Bedding querry

[henry]

I need a little guidance as i am changing the straw in the coop every week now due to it getting damp so often. Is there anything else i can use that will help absorb the damp, i had thought of putting wood shavings down under the straw to try and soak it up but do not know which would be best. Would a heat lamp help?
Thank You

 

[Marigold]

Definitely no heat lamp in the coop, Henry,,as the extra warmth will make for more condensation and thus increase the damp, plus there will be more of a temperature shock to the hens when they emerge in the morning into the open air. If you're getting a lot of damp in the coop, a better approach might be to increase the ventilation.
Aubiose or Hemcore (both shredded hem stems) are very nice and absorbent. I'm now using Aubiose in the coop and nestboxes and on the run floor and everything stays lovely and dry. Very easy to poo pick and the surplus dirty stuff composts easily. Straw isn't really the best choice as its not very absorbent and also the hollow stems can be an unseen haven for redmite!

 

[Bickerton]

I use the hempbedding too . No problems till Ibought a slightly cheaper brand which caused one of my girls to starta sneezing. Went back to my usual and had no problems since.

If it gets damp or wet it'll dry out, if it gets soaked it won't.

 

[chrismahon]

Aubiose or hemp stems Henry. Straw is bad news anyway because red mite nest in it. Hemp is kiln dried and absorbs the moisture. It also composts quickly. As Bickerton says, make sure it is dust extracted as that can make it more expensive but without health issues.

 

[Bickerton]

So long "dust extracted" horsebedding

 

[Marigold]

This dust may not be from the bedding, or only part of it maybe. Chickens make a lot of airborne dust when they preen, dustbathe etc, and even when I had all rubber chippings down in the floor and newspaper in the coop I found that, over time, the surface areas of the run did get dusty like that. I recently hosed down the white tarp sides of the run, when I had just removed the rubber chips and before the Aubiose went down, and it made a lot of difference to the light once the dust layer was removed. Also, all surfaces get dusty, they certainly do in our house, never mind in the run!

 

[Bickerton]

I'm still a little concerned s I get the occasional sneezy day still so think it's best I go onto the bio wood type of stuff again in case the sneezing becomes a problem

 

[Icemaiden]

I need a little guidance as i am changing the straw in the coop every week now due to it getting damp so often.

Henry's quote makes me question whether I'm making extra work for myself: I've been changing all of the aubiose in my coop each week as I thought it was supposed to be changed & cleaned out weekly (the exception being when it was snowy, when I poo picked but left the aubiose in & put more in on top each week for 3 weeks until it thawed).

Two questions then:
1) Am I right to deep clean the coop every week & replace all of the aubiose, &
2) when it's sub-zero for an extended period & I deep litter, am I right to keep poo picking, or should I be covering over the poo but leaving it in the coop to break down & give off more heat?

 

[Marigold]

After I've given the coop a good clean ( about every 4-6 weeks i suppose, maybe more often in summer when its hot) I put down a good thick 3 ins layer of new Aubiose and then just poo pick the coop every day, and then make sure there's still a good covering all over the floor, especially where I know tomorrow's poo will be dropped. After a week or two the bedding gets a bit thin and needs topping up with fresh Aubiose. At this stage I pull out all the remaining Aubiose, which is still quite clean from the daily poo picking, and just add it to what is already in the floor, there's no need to throw it away. I then top up the aubiose again, and if necessary i clean the coop and the cycle starts again. I don't feel it's necessary to remove all the bedding every week, or even to clean the coop thoroughly with disinfectant etc weekly, but maybe that's just me being lazy, I wouldn't like to say what is 'right,' but will be interested to hear what others do. I've never had any redmite, touch wood, and I feel its more important to keep the run door shut to avoid this getting in on the feathers of wild birds, than to be constantly scrubbing a perfectly acceptable coop. With this regime the coop and run never smell, which I think is the test of whether conditions are clean enough.
I would go on poo picking every day as much as you can, because if you leave it, most of it gets scratched in within 24 hours and then you can't find it and the bottom layer of Aubiose gradually gets messier than necessary. Personally I would never let it hang around long enough to get hot from composting in place in the coop or on the run floor, as I think this might be very nasty and smelly and would entail removing more Aubiose than the daily cleanup needs. We keep on saying CHICKENS DON'T NEED HEAT IN THE COOP, don't we? - especially from the ammonia fumes rising from decomposing droppings.

 

[Sue]

I put a thick layer of newspaper on the house floor and take out all the droppings and damp paper daily, putting fresh paper in if needed. In the nest boxes I put a thick layer of paper with dust extracted shavings on top and in winter a layer of 'soft' straw. I poo pick from the nest boxes every morning. When I first had my hens I used to thoroughly clean the whole house and nest boxes every week, replacing with new 'everything'. Now I do the quick clean daily and then only do a full clean when it needs it. There is no set pattern to this, it's not every 2, 3 or 4 weeks, just when I know it needs doing. The nest boxes are probably cleaned out thoroughly every 2-3 weeks, but not the rest of the house. I'm probably getting very lazy, or just learning that it just doesn't need doing the way I did at first! I haven't had red mite yet. My hens did have lice last year, but were treated and as yet, haven't had any more. I'm probably going to get my wrists slapped now, but my hens have been sleeping in the nest boxes during the winter. They probably find the straw warmer and all four of them huddle together. I have just left them to get on with it!!!!! The boxes are poo picked every morning anyway, so the eggs are always clean. Don't see any reason not to let them do it! My two hens who live together in the Green Frog always perch. Interesting that, I wonder why?