For people who scoop daily…

[Witchychickens]

if you scoop your run/coop daily, what do you use for bedding? What is your favorite thing to use and why?

Right now the run is dirt and I like that, I am scooping it 2x daily and composting what I scoop. In the morning I scoop and scrape inside the coop (the door threshold, roosts, and poop deck below, plus random spots in the litter).

I dislike pine shavings (which I’m using currently and finishing up what I bought), what is your favorite coop bedding material?

I’m considering Hemp and pine pellets. Any other ideas?

 

[Debbie292d]

I just do the pine pellets in the coop and both brooders that are in the house.

For the coop, we just lay down about 3" in the spring, and don't change them out until the following spring. The chickens scratch them around, and where they don't, we'll sometimes take a metal rake.

 

[notabitail]

if you scoop your run/coop daily, what do you use for bedding? What is your favorite thing to use and why?

Right now the run is dirt and I like that, I am scooping it 2x daily and composting what I scoop. In the morning I scoop and scrape inside the coop (the door threshold, roosts, and poop deck below, plus random spots in the litter).

I dislike pine shavings (which I’m using currently and finishing up what I bought), what is your favorite coop bedding material?

I’m considering Hemp and pine pellets. Any other ideas?

We use peat moss here.

There are things eco friendly people don't like about it though. If there is something similar that's better I'd like to know.

 

[Jimmy W]

I use construction sand in the run and scoop it daily with a 1/4-inch mesh scooper. In the coop I only scrape the poop board below the roosts, and not the pine shavings on the floor.

I do the same with the manure as you.

 

[Witchychickens]

We use peat moss here.

There are things eco friendly people don't like about it though. If there is something similar that's better I'd like to know.

I have peat moss in my shed. I could definitely try that! I didn’t know there was any controversy over it, though. I use it in my gardens and planters

 

[notabitail]

I have peat moss in my shed. I could definitely try that! I didn’t know there was any controversy over it, though. I use it in my gardens and planters

Definitely try it and see what you think.

I mentioned it in a thread I follow and got poo flung at me.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My coop is hemp under the roosts and wood chips elsewhere, as the chips are beyond free and the chickens really don't poop elsewhere in the coop. The hemp composts well and since I limit it to just under the roost it helps keep costs down.

Run is deep litter so it's just surface poop scooping to reduce how many we step on. Otherwise poops will compost down in place.

 

[Sally PB]

I have a poop board under the roost that catches 90% of the poop in the coop. I scoop that every morning.

The run is dirt, mixed with leaves, old bedding, wood chips. I have "the main aisle" that goes from the run door to the coop door, and any poop I see, I turn a bit of dirt over it with my shoe.

It's about time to dig a bunch of the run out and put that on the compost pile, and then in the garden. Believe me, that is some PRIME garden gold!

 

[Shadrach]

if you scoop your run/coop daily, what do you use for bedding? What is your favorite thing to use and why?

Right now the run is dirt and I like that, I am scooping it 2x daily and composting what I scoop. In the morning I scoop and scrape inside the coop (the door threshold, roosts, and poop deck below, plus random spots in the litter).

I dislike pine shavings (which I’m using currently and finishing up what I bought), what is your favorite coop bedding material?

I’m considering Hemp and pine pellets. Any other ideas?

Shredded paper on the floor and in the nest boxes during winter. Bare floor when the weather warms up.
Clean every day.
Wash out (rough) once a week.
I do a partial clean in the run a couple of times a week. I progressively dig over the run throughout the year.

 

[aart]

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.