[Snoop]

Our two hens arrived the other day - rescued from the pot, not a battery farm. Anyway, we weren't expecting them but managed to get everything just about ready except for bedding. People here use straw, but we haven't been able to find any (didn't think to grow any last year!) to buy. So at the moment I'm using long, dry grass till I can find a source (last advice was go and find a shepherd, he'll have some). Hi-tec bedding material is not available here.

So will wild grasses do, do you think, and how deep should the bedding be?

Thanks for any advice.

[Flowerpower136]

Do you have access to anything a bit more absorbent?

Chooks don't actually sleep in the bedding (though admittedly some do ).  They should perch, and the coop flooring material is just for absorbing the poo that drops during the night.  And in this freezing weather also gives some insulation.

So.. absorbency is what you are after ideally.

Less absorbent stuff like straw is OK for nest box, as long as they aren't sleeping in there.

If they are, again absorbency is important, even if you poo pick every day.  Straw isn't really absorbent enough unless you can change it often to keep it fresh and dry.  

I've used straw and woodshavings, but now have converted to hemcore for both coop and nest boxes. It's just great.  Can you get hold of anything similar that might be supplied for horses?

Just a thought, you might find that they consider grass to be food rather than bedding?

Forgot to answer the question.  Started off just using a good scatter on top of newspaper.  Now don't use paper, but a fairly deep spreading of hemcore.  I just dump a heap in the middle of the coop, and the girls spread it round.  Anything from 1 to 6 inches deep, depending on how they want it arranged!

[Snoop]

Hemcore would be impossible to find here. Straw is proving difficult. The previous owner used grass. He's not very been very forthcoming about what he provided them with, but he had a nest box inside the coop but didn't  have a perch. We've put in what he regarded as an adequate nest box, as well as a perch, but the hens don't use it. Instead they tuck up alongside each other at night in the nest box.

I've been cleaning the poo out every day. As far as I can tell, they poo in the nest box and carry on sitting on top of it. They do have room to the side of the nest box to perch or even sleep in the bedding if they wanted to.

I could get my partner to plane a piece of wood to produce wood shavings, but that's a fair bit of effort. I can easily come by dry grass.

[joyfull]

Try to get them used to perching by lifting them on whilst they are sleepy, It may taske a few weeks of doing this every night but hopefully they will get the idea (although some will still refuse  ). If you have to use grass cuttings please make sure that it is chopped as they can tangle it round the legs and also if they eat it they could become crop bound.

[dizzylizzie]

Hi, what do people normally use for horses where you are? I love my chucks, but even i wouldnt plane a piece of wood to get wood shavings...i must say i admire your commitment
Talk to people that have chucks or horses like i say and find out what they use and where they get it from. Do people not keep hamsters/rabbits etc?. Do they use sawdust/shavings?...i dont know what else to suggest, sorry-good luck tho

[cheshirecat]

Hi, I use Easibed for my chicks.  Works out about £7 bale and lasts quite a long time.  It has a nice smell and the coop keeps a lot sweeter since I started using Easibed.  I just put a thick layer of newspaper on the coop floor and then some Easibed scattered on top of it.  I poop pick everyday and put a little more Easibed in and then change it completely every 3/4 days, just wrapping it all up in the paper and disposing.  Just an idea for you to think about.  You can get Easibed from most animal feed and bedding suppliers, especially the equine places.   

[compostqueen]

You can get Aubiose in Spain and it's really an excellent bedding material for chooks 

[Snoop]

Thanks for all your replies. No-one in our village keeps horses. Rabbits are farmed here, they're not kept as pets. Rabbit muck a friend delivered for me had what looks to be straw in it. I'll see if I can find a friendly rabbit farmer and see what he uses and maybe beg some off him. Our local farmers' co-op sells hen feed but no bedding of any kind and didn't know where I could get any. I don't think they were being deliberately unhelpful - we're quite well liked here.

Thanks for the mention of Aubiose, compostqueen. I've had a look on the Web and found one hit in Spanish - a discussion between people who keep snakes, rats, etc. They recommend Cannabox as an option for their pets, so I'll see what I can find out about that.

In the meantime, I'll carry on chopping up grass. Thanks for suggesting that I cut it up short, joyfull. I've started doing that. I don't think they'll eat it - it really is very dry and completely unappetising, even for hens I'd have thought.

[Flowerpower136]

A case of doing the best you can with what you can get your hands on.

Makes me realise how easy we have it here?!  Can tootle out in the car and come back with a load of chicken stuff with hardly any effort at all.

But then we don't have the weather.  So it does balance out

Good luck with it all.