litter for a shed?

Hi folks, slowly making progress on re-building a shed to get chooks again. I'm unsure about what needs to be on the floor. They will have access to the shed all the time but will have an outside covered large run too.  Do I need to put litter in the shed?  It's an 8 by 6 foot and I will have between 4 and six girls in there.  I will be putting a tray under the perches to catch the roosting poo but I imagine that they will enjoy spending some time inside when the weathers cold and in the mornings if it's light before we open the hatch to the run.

Any ideas would really help. I've seen some suggestions for litter but they seem to be for chickens that are kept inside all the time. If there are tips then could people put where I can get them from please?

cheers

tom 

Hi.  I judst have dust extracted savings on my shed floor.

One point to think about.  6ft by 8ft is a very large shed for just 4 hens.  Will they get cold in the winter as I thought that is they were close together they kept each other warm...

Mine have access to their coop (a shed) throughout the day but only use it to lay eggs and roost at night, even when it is foul weather - go figure, eh!

I use "Bed Down" on the floor, a nice 4 inch deep layer. It is a horse bedding made from chopped straw, dust-extracted wood shavings and smells really nice! I have found this softer and more absorbent than hemp. When they jump down from the roosts or the nest box, the soft floor litter helps to avoid minor foot injuries which could lead to bumblefoot.

As for the large shed area for only a few chooks, you could always have a movable "wall" section that you can use to close off an area so they are cosier and more confined in winter. This could be just a tarp hung on hooks. They will snuggle up for warmth though.

Main thing is to make sure that the ventilation is above their roosting head level, as draughts are the main danger for getting cold.

That is quite right, chooks are pretty hardy! Mine had a full moult in deep snowy midwinter last year and lost half their duvet at once! They survived 

Always used shaving up until recently, now using Bliss which is chopped rape stocks with Eucalyptus oil.  It's very easy to keep clean and breaks down quicker in the compost.  More importantly the chickens seem happy with it

I'm sure it is Joyful and Bliss is just the product/company name

I get my hemcore and rapport from my local pet store - they also sell equestrian stuff and both hemcore and rapport  are horse bedding, as is aubiose another similar bedding