Serious question about shavings vs straw for coop bedding

I have 6 hens in a 4x6 coop here in Ohio and I used straw for like 8 months. It seemed fine but man it got musty quick and I was changing it every 10 days. Then my buddy told me to try pine shavings from the tractor supply for $6 a bale. After 3 weeks I noticed way less smell and the girls stopped getting those weird foot scabs. Has anyone else switched and noticed cleaner eggs or am I crazy?

2 comments

2 Comments

johns1829d ago

Not quite right - shavings hold moisture too. Straw breathes better actually.

angela_coleman1mo ago

Girl, you are not crazy at all... I made the switch from straw to shavings last winter and my eggs went from having little bits of yuck stuck to them to being practically wipe-clean. I also noticed my girls' feet cleared up, those scabs are probably from the straw holding moisture against their skin. I feel like such a dummy for using straw for so long, my coop smelled like a wet barn even after I cleaned it every week... shavings are a game changer for sure.