When choosing bedding for your chicken coop, consider your space, climate, and what will be most effortless to clean.
I love it when my backyard farm chores are simple, quick, and get the job done. That’s why I’ll be sharing with you the types of bedding you can choose from and the only bedding I use.
Less Dust. Less Fuss.
As chicken keepers, we are used to dust. If you are a beginner and don’t know what I’m talking about regarding dust, let me give you the LoDown.
Chickens are DUSTY. They are dusty because they bathe in dirt. They take what we call dust baths. They flick dirt and rocks and any organic matter around them and all over them. They rub their wings to get the dust in their feathers onto their delicate skin. Then, when they think they’ve done a great job, they shake, like a wet dog, but instead of water droplets, it’s a big dust cloud.
They dust bathe to keep pests away naturally. Chickens are prone to lice and mites. If they don’t dust bathe, those little critters will wreak havoc on their feathers, making their skin red and sensitive. Plus, their feathers will lose their shine and become super frail, and chickens will lose feathers if the problem gets out of hand. Dust baths help prevent this.
But, the dust! It just gets dustier. Chickens shake in the coop and outside of the coop. Even when they haven’t bathed in the dirt, their dead skin flies off when they shake. I’m asking myself, “Why do I keep chickens again?” “Oh yeah, the yummy eggs.” That’s why wearing a mask when you clean a chicken coop is essential. You don’t want those nasty germs in your nasal passages.
My goal with bedding is not to add more dust to the problem.
With that said, let’s choose some bedding!
Chicken Bedding Options
Straw
The only reason I have never tried straw is because I don’t want to have to deal with it when I clean out the coop. Plus, our friends used straw forever with their chickens, and their mites got so out of hand that they quit having chickens for a bit. They have since reentered the chicken world and don’t use straw anymore. I also know that Lisa Steele from Fresh Eggs Daily has only ever used straw (and recently tried hemp), but she says she loves straw for winter. I’m too worried about the pests that can hitch a ride in the straw. Therefore, I have never had it in my chicken coop.
I use straw in my Babydoll Sheep’s Shelter, where I use the Deep Litter method and add straw when the top straw gets icky.
Pine Shavings
The classic bedding is affordable and is excellent all around. It has some dust in it, but if you are willing to have more dust for less upfront, pine shavings are the way to go. Pine Shavings are great for use in the Deep Litter Method, but I did find that the poo didn’t break down that well with the shavings. This is what made me do my research on different types of bedding for chicken coops. The shavings took forever to break down, if at all, which was a deal breaker for me. Some cuts of shavings are fine, but they come out of the bag in a dust cloud. So you can buy fine shavings or regular ones.
Pine Pellets
I put this type of bedding on this list because we swear by this bedding for Our Easy Clean Duck Coop. Duck poop is very wet, so the pine pellets do a fantastic job of soaking up that moisture. The pellet turns into sawdust after soaking up moisture and expanding. The great thing about the pine pellets is that even when they expand and are in sawdust form, they aren’t dusty! We clean the duck coop more often, so these pellets make it easy and quick to clean. For a chicken coop, I don’t think the chickens would love these. I don’t think their poop has enough water in it to make the pellets expand enough to turn into decomposed bedding. This means I would have a lot of chicken poop building up. Ick!
Sand
Sand is dusty unless it’s wet. I know chicken keepers who swear by sand but are also super disciplined about cleaning the coop daily, treating the sand like a large litter box. I’m more of a set-it-forget-it type of gal. I don’t have time to sift through sand for little poopies my chickens left behind. Plus, our chicken coop has a floor, and the sand is heavy. Sand could be a great option if your chicken coop floor is on the ground.
Hemp
Hemp is my favorite bedding to keep dust down. I’ve found that the chicken poop dries up quickly in this type of bedding, more so than in pine shavings. I also have found that the smell is less. It also decomposes quicker because the flake is smaller than the pine shavings, making this an excellent choice for the Deep Litter Method. Since using hemp, we no longer have mounds of poop under the roosts, it gets mixed in well with the hemp, and the hemp soaks up all the moisture. It’s also very light and fluffy and stays that way even when dirty. The smell stays down as well because of how well the hemp absorbs. This is the hemp we use.
Organic Matter, i.e., grass clippings, raked leaves, etc.
I’ve never done this in the coop, but we put all our grass clippings in the chickens’ outside run for them to dig through. It’s like the dried grass smell but inside a coop. I wouldn’t say I like this idea, but I know of chicken keepers who put this in the coop to aid their Deep Litter Method. I could see this method being a great additional bedding you put in your coop to help the chickens naturally sift through the bedding and get it all mixed up.
It’s a Personal Preference
It comes down to personal preference. Not all bedding is alike, but they all do the job. It just depends on what you are looking for.
I advise keeping it within your budget and choosing what makes sense for you and your area. You will consistently purchase, so you want it to be within your budget. If you get rough, cold winters, straw is likely the best bedding because it insulates well. But hemp or pine shavings work well if you live in a milder climate.
Your chickens will dig through whatever you put in your coop – they don’t care what bedding they get. What they do care about and get excited about is when fresh bedding is laid down. They are so happy to come into the coop to scratch and mix it up.
To aid in putting down new bedding (if you are using the deep litter method), sprinkle some scratch in there to help them mix up the new bedding with the old. (This is the only time I put food in the coop.) Most of the time, the chickens mix up the new bedding without being coaxed.
Another tip I have for keeping dust down is dusting your chicken coop. When I keep up with the dust situation in the coop, the coop stays cleaner longer. There will always be dust in the chicken coop because they are dusty animals. I keep on the dust using a small, cordless shop vacuum that is small enough to carry around. Here’s a similar one to what I use. I try to do this about once a week. I spend about ten minutes vacuuming the surfaces that collect dust, especially in our storage area.
What have you used for bedding? Do you have any insights into the different types of bedding? Leave a comment! I would love to hear what you use and do in your chicken coop to keep the dust down.
Get more LoDown in these posts:
Chicken Breeds for a Colorful Egg Basket
Love or Forget It? Chicken Coop Edition
