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Join Backyard Poultry magazine in our video series, Chickens in a Minute, as we answer frequently asked questions about how to raise a healthy backyard chicken flock. In this video, we explore what’s the best bedding for chickens. This is an important choice because good bedding provides comfort for your chickens, helps you keep your coop clean and contributes to a flock’s overall health. Chosen properly, bedding can make a chicken keeper’s life easier.

What’s the Best Bedding for Chickens?

A popular choice for chicken bedding is pine shavings. Pine shavings are inexpensive, found at several farm supply stores and come in lightweight bags. They are very absorbent, and when spread generously on the floor of a chicken coop, last around a month.

A word of caution: Do not use cedar shavings, they are bad for a chicken’s respiratory system.

Also high on the list is straw bedding which is inexpensive and readily available. Straw is the hollow stems and stalks from grains and sometimes comes with bonus kernels left at the tips. A lucky find for your flock!

Other choices are sand, which has pros and cons as well as shredded newspaper, which is inexpensive but can become slippery. Grass clippings and hay are sometimes used, but more as treats than actual bedding.

At Standlee, we believe our dedication to the lifestyle we share is what sets us apart and binds us all together. It’s why our family built a company dedicated to supporting, enriching and nourishing the animals we love.

Learn more at StandleeForage.com.

These videos are a great reference for both new and experienced chicken owners alike. So feel free to bookmark them and share!

We love to hear from our fans. What additional questions would you be interested in seeing answered as a Chickens in a Minute video?