How much hay?

[Newfarmer36]

How much hay do I put in my chicken coop? I don't have pine shavings or anything like that. Hay is all i have. Thanks!

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

What is your reason for putting it in?
What type of chickens do you have? Most won't bed down in anything, they prefer to roost.

 

[Newfarmer36]

I thought I was supposed to put something on the coop floor. So I put it there and in the nesting boxes.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I use straw on coop floor. 4 to 6 inches. GC

 

[Newfarmer36]

I use straw on coop floor. 4 to 6 inches.View attachment 1241517 GC

Do your chickens make a mess?? Bc mine sure do!

 

[Welshies]

4 to 6 inches will suffice.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

Hay will work but it tends to soak up liquid, straw allows it to pass through to the ground.
I don't put anything down but mine only go in at night to roost or during the day to lay eggs. I put a bit of straw in the nest boxes but that's all.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Do your chickens make a mess?? Bc mine sure do!

Yes, as soon as I let them back in after I even it. Raggedy Ann will scratch it into piles.
I even it out several times a day. GC

 

[GC-Raptor]

I have a small coop 4' x 5'.
I change it weekly, as I have no poop boards. GC

 

[lazy gardener]

How much hay do I put in my chicken coop? I don't have pine shavings or anything like that. Hay is all i have. Thanks!

Is your coop a wood floor, or soil floor? If hay is what you have for bedding, then that is what you use. Thankfully, you are in a warmer climate, so it won't freeze into a block of hay spaghetti and frozen poo meatballs! Simply add new hay as they soil the existing hay. If you have access to dry leaves that would be an awesome addition. You can get them to work for you by tossing a bit of scratch into the bedding so they will turn the bedding for you. I do deep litter on my wood/vinyl floor coop, and keep adding more bedding as needed. By spring, the litter under the roosts may be 12 - 18" deep. Over the summer, it will compost well. In fall, I clean out a portion of it (it goes into the deep litter run) where it continues to compost. Then, in the fall, I stock pile leaves and keep them bagged and dry, to use as needed in coop and run. I never buy shavings unless I run out of natural bedding.