Using shredded newspaper as coop bedding

Over the years I have tried various types of bedding in my chicken coops. Usually I stick with wood shavings but I have been known to use leaves, hay or straw as bedding in my coops from time to time. A few months back I came across a forum topic discussing coop litter and several people mentioned using shredded newspaper as coop bedding. It was supposed to be absorbent and easy to compost after coop cleaning.

I decided to do some research and give it a try. It wasn't difficult, just shred the newspaper and throw it in the coop. It was free. It was easy.....but how did it work?

Using shredded newspaper in the chicken coop

While newspaper is generally 'free' (what else are you gonna do with it after you read it?) the shredder certainly isn't and depending on what size coop you're filling you do run the risk of burning up a shredder. To prevent this I shredded paper for about 5 minutes a few times a day till I got enough paper for my coop. 

I only used the regular newspaper part, not the shiny ad papers. I also used some regular shredded paper like bills and such. 

I chose the d'Uccle coop for this experiment. It's not terribly large which I thought was a good idea in case it failed miserably. I covered the coop floor with about 2" of shredded paper. As the days went by it packed down and I would add more from time to time. 

The chickens had no problems walking in or turning the paper coop bedding. The coop didn't smell and when the paper litter got wet, it quickly dried out. 

I did see them eat a piece or two of shredded paper, but didn't notice any problems from it. 

Top Poultry posts of 2014

Now that 2014 has officially ended, I've had time to sit down and look back at the past year of blogging. I've taken a look at which posts were widely viewed, pinned and shared. So without much preamble....here they are (in order) my top 5 poultry posts of 2014.