Straw or wood shavings?

[golddustmommy]

I just got my chicks out in the coop a few days ago. It was full of nice fluffy wood shavings. but after night 2, we had a huge flood in our backyard and I had to shovel it out - as there was 3 inches of standing water in the coop. Don't worry, all chicks were saved and spent a night in the brooder while the coop aired out. Anyway! I was wondering if people prefer wood shavings or hay/straw in their coops. I thought I saw that straw holds moisture too much and gets moldy, but after this flood we had (the whole county), the feed store almost sold out of hay. So I was super curious as to what the pros say

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Both will mold when they are wet, so in your case both would have needed replacing.

Straw will mat down, and mites can live inside the hollow stems. Shavings seem better at making poop disappear, where with straw, unless it's chopped, the poop will sit on top.

I use shavings, but in winter I add some hay to bulk up my bedding and give my chickens some forage, straw usually doesn't have much forage potential as it's baled after the oats are harvested.

I personally would choose shaving.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Wood shavings. Straw gets matted down and as you stated holds moisture and get moldy and stinks.

 

[lazy gardener]

Mites will live in any bedding if they are present. So, I don't buy the "straw/mite" risk. That being said, Straw can be very difficult to manage b/c it mats. Given a choice between only those two options, I'd choose shavings. However, my personal choice is NEITHER! I have used dry fall leaves almost exclusively for the past 2 years. In the summer, I supplement the leaves with grass clippings. I occasionally break open a bale of hay to give the flock more variety, and they spend hours sifting through the hay looking for seeds. This material mixes together to make a wonderful start to the world's best compost.

 

[MossyOaks]

I just got my chicks out in the coop a few days ago. It was full of nice fluffy wood shavings. but after night 2, we had a huge flood in our backyard and I had to shovel it out - as there was 3 inches of standing water in the coop. Don't worry, all chicks were saved and spent a night in the brooder while the coop aired out. Anyway! I was wondering if people prefer wood shavings or hay/straw in their coops. I thought I saw that straw holds moisture too much and gets moldy, but after this flood we had (the whole county), the feed store almost sold out of hay. So I was super curious as to what the pros say

Great question, I was wondering the same thing. As we use wood shavings, and I also just started to put in shredded newspapers. The newspaper I put in the bedding for laying eggs. I found on YouTube a guy who only used newspaper shreddings. I personally wouldn't use just the newspaper. As it to will may down upon getting wet. I avoid straw mostly because it's more of a hassle at times. My husband grew up with raising chickens and his input has helped a lot. As I had no idea what he was getting me into, but I'm super happy with our little flock.

 

[1TurkenLover]

Sand, We Use Builders Sand in Raised Main Coop ▬ it drys out liquid & is cleaned out Fast/Easy with cat pan scoop. . Runs have dirt & River rocks. . . Lg pebbles. Raised Tweener Coop has Pine Flakes & same in Run. Ground level Nursery has Pine shavings in Coop & run.

Is your Coop Raised ? That will be a Big help as well as giving chicks/chickens a covered place for Hanging Food & Water.

 

[Folly's place]

Nothing works in a flood situation, so managing drainage issues is first. Then, shavings with some other plant material works very well. I use the bagged shavings for livestock bedding, and add some hay or straw as it appears. Dried leaves would work too, but mine stay in the yard, and aren't raked up in fall. Mary

 

[barred2rock]

I use straw, figured it would make better insulation (got chicks in early March). Our climate is very dry, so mold isn't much of an issue. I might try shavings next time to mix with the straw.

 

[MIchickenlady]

I like the smell of pine shavings, so I'm thinking of trying that in nest boxes.
We started with shavings in coop, tried straw, switched to sand and loved it!
My tip though-make sure you dry out the sand if you get it bagged before putting it in the coop. We got bags of sand that were wet the first time and ignorantly put it in the coop- not good
I may supplement the nest box with dry leaves also-great ideas here-thank you!!!

 

[Teabone]

Not a flood issue but I noted with my day old chicks for a week or two the straw tended to stick up such that the chicks tended to be a little below the surface of the straw and their little bums were rubbing in the straw which would cause their excrement to be held against their bums causing the poopy bum condition which was not good. I switched to pine shavings since other types of shavings such as cedar are bad for them. Right away I could see the chicks stood higher in the shavings than the straw improving their ability to pass the feces without it sticking to their bums.