What is the Best Bedding for Chickens?

Just before Christmas (if you can remember that far back) my mother presented me with, what looked at first glances to be, a Tog 125,000 duvet. I personally have always preferred a thin duvet, more suited for someone sleeping in the desert heat of the Arabian peninsular, as opposed to the rolling hill splendor of Dorset's Blackmore Vale. However, it didn't take long with these cold snaps biting the country for my mind to be swayed, and I am now quite happy ensconcing myself in a 3ft thick cocoon of downy, sleep inducing, duvet each and every night.

When it comes to cold spells and a nice sleep, our poultry pals can feel the pinch as well. Luckily Flyte so Fancy has a wonderful range of Poultry Bedding, to help keep your hens as snug as a bug in a rug through the cold winter months.

Firstly, at Flyte so Fancy we use (and recommend) HempBed-E Poultry Bedding. A chopped hemp bedding, it is both infused with eucalpyptus and under a new recipe contains small pellets of eucalyptus that keeps the bedding fresher for longer. It's odour eating properties are hugely beneficial during these long cold winter nights, when your hens will be inside the coop for longer, cutting down on the chances of respiratory issues. It is also a mild decongestant, anti-bacterial and much of our research points to it having anti-mite properties too.
HempBed-E is:

• Incredibly absorbent, making cleaning easier and less frequent. 
• Is natural, dust free and quick to compost.
• Impregnated with Eucalyptus, which has anti-bacterial properties. 
• Our most popular bedding with great feedback from customers. 

Secondly, is the popular Aubiose Chopped Hemp Bedding 20kg bale. This bedding is used widely for horses due to it being highly absorbent and is made without pesticides, fungicides, herbicides or insecticides.

Similar to the HempBed-E it is able to absorb 12 times the liquid of straw. It is also able to trap some smells. As it quickly decomposes it is ideal for gardeners and allotments. 

• 20kg  bale of  highly absorbent Aubiose Bedding.
• Quick to decompose, is a highly organic fetiliser. 
• Able to contain some of the ammonia smell that hens produce.

Lastly, we have the Hunter Wood Shavings, 20kg Bales, and Chippets Wood Shavings 4kg. Compacted and dust free, wood shavings make great bedding for hen houses and pet housing, like rabbit or guinea pig hutches. Trationally widely used for henhouse bedding, until HempBed-E came along, it is still preferred by traditionalist poultry keepers.

Here at FSF HQ we never advise using straw or hay as a bedding for poultry, and a convention has established around this idea. Straw can lead to mite issues as the hollow nature of the bedding allows mites to live, hide and thrive in the bedding underneath your birds, while hay when it gets damp can very quickly release mold spores, causing respiratory issues for your chickens, one of the biggest killers of poultry. 

As the hours tick by, hour by hour, seemingly ever slower, I look forward to my eiderdown palace of Morpheous waiting for me at home, safe in the knowledge that my chickens will be equally snug in their coop this evening thanks to a liberal handful of extra HempBed-E.

Any questions leave a comment below or give us a ring on 01300 345229.

Thanks for Reading

James