Can You Use Kitty Litter For Chickens?

You should never ever use cat litter in the chicken coop. Chickens can peck at it and eat it, causing bad digestion problems, and possibly a painful death. Cat litter also produces enormous amounts of dust, that can cause respiratory problems in your flock.

What can I use for chicken litter?

By far the most commonly used litter is wood shavings, sold in feed stores, or scrounged from woodworkers. Wood shavings have a pleasant smell, are amazingly absorbent, and don’t pack down. Sawdust also works well but is dusty. Chickens stir it up and dust settles on anything in the coop.

What do you put down in a chicken coop?

Medium- to coarse-grained sand is the best chicken coop bedding as it’s non-toxic, dries quickly, stays clean, is low in pathogens, and has low levels of dust. Sand is a much safer choice than all other bedding materials.

What do you put in a chicken run floor?

In general, the best ground cover for a chicken run is anything that keeps the ground dry, safe, and comfortable for chickens while also being easy to clean as needed. Bedding material, sand, solid floors, and landscape mulches are popular options for running floors alone or used together.

Do chicken coops need litter?

While livestock need bedding for a layer of protection between them and the cold, damp floor while they sleep, chickens do not sleep on the ground, they sleep on roosts, therefore, they do not need bedding- chickens need litter on the floor of the coop to manage waste.

What is the best nesting material for chickens?

Good choices for nesting box material include straw, pine shavings, pine needles, dried leaves or shredded paper.

How do you keep a chicken coop from smelling?

Keep Your Chicken Coop Smelling Fresh with These 5 Tips

1. Water and moisture are not your friend.
2. Install a box fan to keep air circulating.
3. Use fresh herbs and rose petals if you have them, in the nesting boxes and in the sleeping areas.
4. Every few days or once a week, clean out any bedding that is soiled or damp.

What is the best bedding for a chicken run?

The most popular material for inside the coop is wood shavings. Made from soft woods, such as pine, spruce or hemlock, wood shavings give off a nice aroma and are absorbent, binding with fecal matter. Other white woods used for shavings are not as fragrant but do the same work inside the coop.

What bedding is bad for chickens?

Why are pine shavings unsafe for your chickens? Pine bedding is unsafe for chickens due to the damaging effects of abietic acid on the respiratory system, the damaging effects of terpene hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds on liver function, and the carcinogenic nature of pine dust.

How often should you change chicken bedding?

every 2-3 weeks
We recommend changing your chicken’s coop bedding every 2-3 weeks and nesting box as needed for all feathered friends. However, keep in mind that chicken blogs and friends will give their personal favorite changing times.

Do chickens need grass in their run?

In short, no, you don’t need grass in a chicken run area and if you do place a run onto grass it will quickly get destroyed through constant scratching, leaving behind bare soil or dirt.

What do you put on a dirt floor for a chicken coop?

Using the deep litter method on a dirt floor
The deep litter method (also called the deep bedding method) is used by many chicken keepers as a means of composting bedding and droppings. For this method, you need to use a thick layer of organic bedding in your coop, such as wood shavings or straw.

What is the best ground covering for a chicken coop?

Grass and Vegetation
Grass and other types of vegetation are ideal ground covers for movable chicken coops, called chicken tractors or chicken arks. Chickens can forage for insects and worms in the grass.

What is the best bedding for chickens in the winter?

A nice thick layer of straw on the floor (think 12″ or more) will provide insulation against the chill from the ground. Straw is one of the best insulators as far as bedding for chickens goes, since warm air is trapped in the hollow shafts.

What is the best bedding for nesting boxes?

cedar shavings
For the Nest Box
In my opinion, pine or cedar shavings are the best bedding materials for nest boxes. They dry quickly, offer substantial padding for eggs, and smell fresh and woodsy. If you’re wary of using cedar shavings in the coop, the nest box is a great place to try it out.

How often should you clean a chicken coop?

How often you should be cleaning a chicken coop? You should provide fresh food and fresh water every day, and you should clean the bedding out once a week or once a month(the deeper the bedding layer the less often you have to clean it out). It’s best practice to do a total clean-out at least twice a year.

Should you put anything in a nesting box?

The nesting box must be the correct height for the birds that will use it. It needs to face the right way. Don’t put anything in your bird box (birds are clever an resourceful enough to build their own nest). Don’t put nesting boxes too close to each other.

How many nesting boxes do I need for 6 chickens?

However, there are plenty of poultry supply companies that sell nest boxes and the answer they should give you is approximately one nest box for every 5 – 6 hens.

How many nesting boxes do I need for 4 chickens?

Usually, one nest box for every 4-5 hens is enough. It is not uncommon for all the hens to lay in one or two favorite nesting boxes, even when you’ve provided many other nesting options!

How do I get rid of chicken smell?

In a bowl, add 1 tbsp salt , 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp black pepper , 1 tbsp vinegar. Rub the chicken and leave it in the mixture for 15 minutes.

Can I use baking soda in a chicken coop?

White vinegar, baking soda, and sunlight can all do an amazing job of killing bacteria, mold, and pathogens. Ultraviolet rays are also a powerful disinfectant, and vinegar kills many types of mold, as does baking soda. Using all in combination will keep your chicken feeders and waterers clean and your chickens healthy.