Coop bedding - which is best?

Bedding is an important part of chicken husbandry, but not all beddings are made equal. When you’re lining your coop, you want something soft, dry, dust-free an absorbent. So… what’s best?

Pine shavings

Common coop bedding and available at most produce stores, these puffy flakes of pine make nice soft bedding. It’s fairly absorbent, and fairly affordable (about $12 - $15 a bag).

The downside? It’s DUSTY. I used pine shavings for quite a while, and while they say dust-extracted, I still found it super dusty. When cleaning the coop, it always makes me cough.

Chickens have very sensitive respiratory systems, and there are lots of reports of pine shavings irritating their birds. In the end, I gave shavings the flick, just because I don’t want to enhance the risk of breathing difficulties.

Verdict: a very common bedding and recommended by a lot of people. But I find it very dusty and cough a lot when I work with it.

Straw

There are heaps of different types of straw, and many are readily available at produce stores. Straw is cheap and accessible, and it looks quite sweet when spread out (very farm-like). However, I don’t find it ideal bedding.

Straw isn’t overly absorbent, the long strands make it hard to spot clean, and the hollow fibres are attractive for mold, mites and lice.

Mold is something you want to keep away from your chickens, and fungi such as aspergillosis can cause fatal fungal infections in your hens. Hens also have a tendency to eat it, which can mean eating soiled bedding as well as the potential to cause crop impactions.

Verdict: Lots of people use straw, but personally I think it’s smelly, difficult to handle and harbors pests.

Sand

Lots of people rave about sand. It’s cool, absorbent, inexpensive, easy to spot clean and resistant to bacteria. I, however, am personally not a fan.

Sand is heavy, and to me it always looks dirty. I also find it dusty – perhaps a good medium for an outdoor run or dust-bathing site, but not something I would use myself in the coop. It’s also non-compostable… so I’m not sure what you do when you clean out the coop.

Verdict: Some people absolutely RAVE about sand, but personally I find it gritty and messy.

Hemp

I love hemp bedding. It’s soft, clean, natural and dust-free. I’ve also found it great for controlling smells, and when I stick my head into the coop and inhale, the air is fresh, dry and dust-free.

It’s very absorbent (12 times more absorbent than straw) and super easy to spot clean. Most hemp bedding is shredded up into small chunks, so it’s comfortable for the hens and crop impaction seems much less of a risk than with things like straw.

It’s also a natural pest repellant and I’ve never had a mite/lice outbreak while using it (unlike with pine shavings). Another plus, is once it’s out of the coop it decomposes really quickly.

The downside – it’s quite expensive. I buy it from here, and it’s the cheapest I could get my hands on it by far.

Verdict: My favourite, although it's quite expensive.

You make their bed, but your chickens lie in it

I like hemp bedding. I’ve tried lots of other beddings and either found it dirty, smelly or dusty. But in the end, the bedding you use comes down to personal choice. Some people adore sand, others have sware by straw, and some just love pine shavings. No bedding is perfect, so make your choice based on what works for your situation and your flock.