[bamford6]

Which bedding should I use?
 

As we get so many questions on bedding I thought it might be good to have a sticky on the pros and cons. Please add your own opinions   .

Beddings I have used:

Straw

Type: Straw!
Coop Floor: Yes
Nestboxes: Yes
Covered Run: Possible
Open Run: I would not recommend
Cost: Aprox £4 a bale, more for smaller quantities from pet shops
Pros: looks nice! keeps warmth in, hens seem to like it
Cons: compacts easily, needs fluffing up, can be slippery if wet, can create a hiding place for mites due to hollow stalks.
Can also cause impacted crop if your hen eats it.

Cozy Coop

Type: recycled wood bedding
Coop Floor: Yes
Nestboxes: Yes
Covered Run: I would not recommend unless indoors
Open Run: Yes
Cost: Aprox £4 a sack
Pros: soft, nice to handle, hens seem to like it, absorbant, rots down mega quick on compost heap
Cons: a bit dusty, my chicks like to eat it, can get damp


Aubiose

Type: chopped flax
Coop Floor: Yes
Nestboxes: Yes
Covered Run: Yes
Open Run: No!
Cost: Aprox £8-£10 a bale but lasts ages
Pros: Absorbant and stays very dry on top, soft, easy to clean out, rots down super quick on compost heap
Cons: can be dusty, hard to get out of bale as very compacted but no real cons, its great stuff!


Bedmax Wood Shavings

Type: Big flakey woodshavings
Coop Floor: Yes
Nestboxes: Yes
Covered Run: Yes
Open Run: No!
Cost: Aprox £6-£6.50 a bale
Pros: Nice and easy to handle, good in nestboxes
Cons: not very absorbant, needs fluffing up as it compacts easily


Softwood Shavings (fine)

Type: various makes available, small shavings
Coop Floor: Yes
Nestboxes: Yes
Covered Run: Possibly but not ideal unless indoors
Open Run: No!
Cost: £8 a bale, you will get less for your money with pet shop small quantities
Pros: looks and smells nice, a little goes a long way, reasonably absorbant
Cons: does need fluffing up as it compacts


Softbed

Type: Chopped straw
Coop Floor: Yes
Nestboxes: Yes
Covered Run: Yes
Open Run: No!
Cost: Aprox £6 a bale
Pros: Easy to handle, not dusty, good for coop floors, absorbant, economical
Cons: a little harder than Aubiose and not as soft for the chickens in nestboxes


Natures Best Wood Pellets

Type: compacted pellets that need to be dampened to expand to bedding
Coop Floor: Yes
Nestboxes: Yes
Covered Run: would not recommend
Open Run: No!
Cost: Aprox £6-£7 a bag (expands to 4 times the volume)
Pros: dry soft bedding, nice to handle, pellet turns in to a nice small 'shavings' type material, not dusty
Cons: bit of a faff to dampen, small chicks could try to eat it!


Hardwood Chips

Type: Chunky wood chips
Coop Floor: No
Nestboxes: No!
Covered Run: Yes
Open Run: Yes
Cost: Aprox £4 for 50 litre bag
Pros: Lets water drain through, long lasting
Cons: if underneath gets boggy the woodchips may disappear in to mud! take ages to rot down on compost heap

Bark Chips

Type: shredded or chipped bark
Coop Floor: no
Nestboxes: no
Covered Run: Yes
Open Run: Yes
Cost: £3-£4 a sack
Pros: Looks and smells nice intially!
Cons: Can harbour mould spores, gets wet and slippery quickly

Some beddings can be used together with great sucess, I add half a bale of Bedmax to the woodchip in my walk n run and that works well, Aubiose and softwood shavings work well together too

[bamford6]

look after youre hens this winter

[bloomer]

mine are on wood shavings currently in the run and thats been fine outside they have bark over earth and i just keep raking it over when they dig big holes!!!

for the winter i had planned on switching the indoors to hay for extra warmth so looks like i should be ok from your list above!!!

as we have a relatively small chicken coop i am a bit worried about them in the colder weather so we'll try straw and see how they cope with it!!!

[bamford6]

iv had hens live at minus 22 with no problem .the thing that will kill them is sleet in the after noon it then freezes and thats it .i  can remember when we had a bad snow storm in the afternoon the hens hadent got back in i went out last thing and they was on top off each other wet and cold .so i did no more and put them in the kitchin .all was ok till linda got up in the morning

[daddymatty82]

look after youre hens this winter

where did you get that hat for the chook?

[shrekfeet]

never EVER! use hay for chicken bedding. The spores will kill them

[Rosemary]

Just what I was going to say, shrekfeet.

I use Hemcore, which is a bit like Auboise, being the soft inner of the hemp plant (rather than flax). It has all the attributes of Auboise listed but it's dust extracted, so not dusted. I wouldn't use it outside, but inside it's brilliant.

[sheila]

I love the photo of the chicken! It cheered me up no end. I still cannot get replies to my posts because the lock is on and I don't know how to get it off! Help!!

[Daveravey]

I'm been using Hempcore for the first time over the last 2 weeks & to be honest i can't really see any benefits over shavings.

OK, they say it rots down quicker than shavings, but with it being about £5 dearer than shavings per bale, who really can afford to change just for that.

Needless to say, i'll be back onto shavings next week

[Rosemary]

We put it in the compost heap, which we couldn't do with shavings. I hardly use any, it's so absorbent.

[Daveravey]

Your hens must be cleaner than my mucky lot Rosemary   

Most of the bedding gets scratched out into the runs, hense i use quite a lot   

[lachlanandmarcus]

I use Aubiose too, it's great as it doesnt get all damp and squalid like straw and shavings and is esp good for nestboxes. I buy it anyway for the horses so the hens just get the spare. Although its expensive per bale, it lasts a lot longer and is nicer, and it doesnt stick to your clothes either!

[JD]

I use Aubiose for all the good reasons you give and the chooks are healthy and happy.

JD

[Castle Farm]

Aubiose for mine. It seems to absorb well and goes a long way.

[hartstone]

I use Bliss because it absorbs well and is Dust free, easy to handle and muckheap friendly, Bliss Bedding is chopped and treated rape straw.