The Best Bedding for your Backyard Chicken Coop

The right coop bedding makes all the difference in the comfort and health of your backyard flock. High quality coop bedding or ‘litter’, insulates your birds - keeping them warm in winter and cool in summer. Coop bedding also provides a soft layer to walk on, and absorbs moisture from droppings. 

According to Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, coop bedding should have these qualities:

inexpensive

durable

lightweight

absorbent

fast-drying

easy to handle

resists packing

has medium sized particles

low thermal conductor

must and mold-free

non-toxic

organic

Pine shavings are the first choice for many backyard chicken owners, but they can get pricey compared to other coop bedding options. You’ll save money with straw bedding, just be sure it’s well chopped ; un-chopped straw will quickly compact into a thick matting that doesn’t absorb droppings and makes for a messy clean up. Chopped, fluffy wheat straw is best, and it’s even better with stalks and cobs mixed in.

 If you’re lawn isn’t treated with toxic chemicals, try using dried grass clippings as a high quality, free coop bedding. 

But avoid the temptation to try other free or dirt cheap materials like dried leaves, rice hulls, peanut shells, and shredded paper. These mat too easily to make good coop bedding, and require more frequent replacement than pine shavings or straw. 

In order for bedding to insulate your birds from extreme weather, the idea is to give your backyard chickens enough litter so they can burrow down into it and get warm and cozy on icy winter days, or protect themselves from the scorching sun during the summer. Four-inch-deep bedding is ideal for chicks, but mature birds will enjoy up to 8” of coop bedding. Use a bow rake to break up compacted litter in areas around feeders, roosts, and doorways, and replace saturated coop litter with clean, dry bedding.

A simple and fun way to keep your coop bedding from becoming compacted is to scatter a handful of grain, and watch the melee as your backyard chickens scratch and stir up their litter, hunting down every tiny morsel of food.