Coop floor substrate and nest bedding

[LeverAction35]

Coop will be here soon and I’m considering sand for the coop floor. Nearly no dust and easy to screen out waste. I also saw where some people use used coffee grounds?? I think the only downside to using sand or coffee is I will not be able to have a constant supply of used up material to use as fertilizer

As far as substrate in the nesting boxes. Please let me know what your prefer in there. I have the nesting boxes with the rollout egg trays so I would imagine if my bedding material was too deep, the eggs would not roll out? Can I use a square of artificial grass?

 

[TOMTE]

I use wood pellets for bedding. They smell good, super absorbent, easy to clean. Not dusty at all. And they're great to add to compost!

Sand gets very smelly very fast if you don't keep up with cleaning.

For the nest boxes you can use just about anything. I've used pine shavings, grass clippings and leaf litter, rags, and finally we just picked up a pack of these:

^ I like these a lot and so do my girls.

 

[LeverAction35]

Those nest pads look like they would work great with my rollout trays. I assumed they needed a deep “fluffy” substrate for the nesting boxes for some reason

 

[nuthatched]

Be aware, chicken pop has to compost for 6 months before being used as fertilizer

 

[aart]

As far as substrate in the nesting boxes. Please let me know what your prefer in there. I have the nesting boxes with the rollout egg trays so I would imagine if my bedding material was too deep, the eggs would not roll out?

Tho I don't use roll out nests, I believe they shouldn't have any bedding in them to work properly. Don't use nest pads either but have read they can tear them up.

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
- Large flake pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 10+ years.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't use the roll-out egg trays but the recommendations I see on this forum usually say to use carpet. For the egg to roll it has to be on a slope. How are you going to keep the loose bedding from sliding down the slope?

Here is a very old thread on rollaway nests. You might find something interesting.

Opa’s Rollaway Nest Box
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=287684

 

[Toothpick]

TSC pine shavings in the coop floor - going on 8 years using it with no issues at all.

I recently switched to washable nest pads in the boxes because every now and then I get a broken egg and anything else is a pain to clean the nasty egg out. But I was using what TOMTE is using from above. With a roll out next box you probably don't want anything for them to work correctly. Or at least something thin that won't stop the egg from rollin'

 

[Cmp211]

TSC pine shavings in the coop floor - going on 8 years using it with no issues at all.

I recently switched to washable nest pads in the boxes because every now and then I get a broken egg and anything else is a pain to clean the nasty egg out. But I was using what TOMTE is using from above. With a roll out next box you probably don't want anything for them to work correctly. Or at least something thin that won't stop the egg from rollin'

This is my plan coop too, my flock just went out to the coop. I laid pine shavings down. How often do you ,personally , clean it out?

 

[Toothpick]

This is my plan coop too, my flock just went out to the coop. I laid pine shavings down. How often do you ,personally , clean it out?

I clean the poop boards daily (try to at least) and I scoop out all the pine shavings on the floor once or twice a year.

 

[Cmp211]

I clean the poop boards daily (try to at least) and I scoop out all the pine shavings on the floor once or twice a year.

Do you add more shavings periodically? Or just start out with a really think layer ?