Poultry Bedding: A dry coop floor for healthy, happy chickens

Poultry Bedding: Dry, clean and cosy

The right poultry bedding absorbs moisture from droppings, binds odours and gives your chickens a soft surface to scratch in. A dry coop floor keeps feet and feathers clean and gives germs and mites less favourable conditions. With us you will find spelt husks, spelt litter, spelt husk briquettes, wood shavings from CHIPSI, forest floor bedding from Heuland as well as coop drying powders and zeolite.

Which bedding for which purpose?

Spelt husks are light, low in dust and encourage the hens to scratch. Pressed into briquettes they save storage space and loosen up again in the coop. Wood shavings such as CHIPSI Super or Forest Fresh absorb a lot of moisture and work well on droppings boards and in nesting boxes. The forest floor bedding from Heuland brings a natural texture into the coop, and the version with maize also encourages pecking. Many keepers combine two types, for example shavings in the nest and spelt husks on the floor.

Coop drying against damp

In damp corners, under drinkers or with ducks in the coop, bedding alone is often not enough. A coop drying powder such as Seche-etable is sprinkled thinly on the floor or the droppings board before the fresh bedding goes down. It binds moisture and makes for a more pleasant climate in the coop. Zeolite such as KerbaDry also absorbs moisture and odours. That way the coop stays dry for longer, and you need to muck out completely less often. Good ventilation helps as well, as it carries damp air out of the coop.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best bedding for a chicken coop?
There is no single best bedding. Spelt husks and wood shavings are popular with many keepers because they absorb well and produce little dust, while straw is cheap but gets damp more quickly.

How deep should the bedding be in a chicken coop?
A layer of about 5 to 10 cm has proven itself. Remove wet and heavily soiled patches regularly and add fresh bedding, rather than just topping up on top.

Does bedding help against poultry red mites?
Dry bedding that is changed regularly gives mites poorer conditions, but it does not replace checking. During the day mites hide mainly in cracks and on perches, so that is where you should look regularly.