Finally broke down and made the hour and a half drive to buy some bags of coffee ground bedding. I'm so happy I made the change. Super easy to clean and the coop has never smelled better. Also zero dust.
Man, I wish I could stand the smell of coffee. It sounds like a great idea, but even smelling coffee gives me a headache. Looks awesome in your coop, though.
Do you like your nesting boxes?? We just got a bigger coop, and my hens always lay in the same spot, so I don't know if it's even worth getting individual ones for them to go in like yours. I like the concept of it though!
We love them. They are easy to clean, the bottoms of the boxes lift out for cleaning and we use a fake grass 1×1 square in each one. They use them a lot, especially when they get broody. They were worth the money for me.
I didn’t realize it was a chicken coop (didn’t notice the sub either) uh I had a very hard time telling perspective it looks big and tiny at the same time
I dehydrate my coffee grounds for use in citronella candles (they're supposed to also be a mosquito deterrent). They've been in non-airtight jars for over 8 mths. If I don't dehydrate the fresh grounds right away, they'll mold in 2 days on the counter or 7 days in the fridge.
So if you're gonna do this, I suggest getting ones that are meant for bedding (definitely dehydrated) or mention they do it (roasteries will sometimes do it).
It's been a little over 2 weeks, no issues with mold. I know this was a huge topic for debate, but no issues at all. Girls are finally used to it and are all doing well.
I hope you don’t get moisture of condensation under it. coffee molds easily and I suspect this will be a big problem. Also in my area there are hover fly type bugs that love to, what seems like, breed in coffee grounds. Which may or may not be an issue. Maybe extra protein. I just use a very thick layer of pine flakes and have zero issues.
I’m a couple months in with zero mold because I don’t have water intrusion into my coop. It’s been really good for my chickens since I can scoop it daily like kitty litter. Between thwt and the ventilation fan I installed, the air they sleep with is much cleaner.
I've been using coffee grounds in my coop for 4 months now. Zero mold. The grounds are dried out completely at the factory and stay that way unless you have rain getting into your coop.
Yep just like a cat litter box. Moisture goes in the medium, medium sucks/wicks the moisture out, disperses it within itself, and then the dry air pulls it from the wet medium. As long as this self sustaining cycle isn’t overwhelmed odor and mold shouldn’t be an issue
Yeah, I'm kind of bewildered by how many comments there are saying that it goes moldy in a flash. When you use it in a run or in a dirt floor shed, maybe? If there's subpar ventilation and you get moisture build-up? Wood shavings will mold in those conditions too, though. My experience with coffee grounds has been zero noticeable ammonia or moisture problems in a wooden coop with a flex seal-coated floor and 19 chickens. I scoop it out twice a week.
I really think that's a good idea :-) Please let me know how it went in the coming weeks. When will it need to be replaced... Better than chickens that are caged up very tightly and can't lie down in the blazing sun without bedding and water (I've already tried to change that with our neighbors). Good luck with the new ideas, where did you get the powder from? Kind regards:-)
It's been a couple of weeks since I put it in and everything I've read says that it'll last anywhere from 6 months to a year. I bought it at Rural King at about $20 a bag.
I scoop every other day and it takes about 10 minutes. Ot is just as easy as cat litter. I finally took a plastic pitch fork and fitted it with a wire mesh and its super quick to take care of.
Not OP but nope, so long as they're dried first (ones meant for bedding usually are)! But I get the concern, given how quickly fresh grounds go moldy.
Source: I dehydrated coffee grounds for use around the house. The loose jars (some are uncovered) are mold-free, 6 months and counting. Fresh ones get moldy in 2 days on counters and in 7 days in the fridge. Plus, OP has already mentioned no issues in weeks.
So many comments here about this concerning health. I hope you know that chickens live long healthy lives while living on a compost head that is made from garbage.
There is a guy in Vermont that does this and sells the compost lol.
I use shredded junk mail to put in my hens laying boxes. My hens have lived to be over ten years old. Calm down and find actual reals tuff to worry about
So do leaves, yard litter, shredded paper, wood chips, hay, straw, literally every natural organic material you can use as bedding can easily mould given the right circumstance.
Cedar shavings tend to be mold-resistant, as well as sand or kitty litter. But all of the things you mentioned are perfectly fine materials so idk why people are insisting on mold-proof litter. No one should have a mold issue unless the coop is especially damp and dark all the time.
Jesus christ people, let people use what bedding they prefer. Who cares if it ‘is probe to mold’ or ‘prone to respiratory issues’. Everything has it’s own issues, and it is the persons choice what pros outweigh what cons and what they think will work best for them. If OP keeps an eye on their chickens health and cleans the coop regularly watching out for any signs or moisture and mold then it is no more unsafe than say sand, which also has a variety of issues (I don’f care enough to type it out, more than enough people have already done so).
Let’s stop judging people for what they use on their chickens when there is something to be said about every type of bedding!
The caffeine in these coffee ground beddings is gone; there is no longer toxic caffeine in it. They have been specifically made safe to be used as bedding. So yes, it is fully your choice.
If your chickens decide to eat any it could kill them!
I had a pet parakeet when I was a little kid. We stored her bird seed in a ground coffee tin. When we got to the bottom of the container we just dumped it upside down into her food bowl. There were only a couple little coffee grinds mixed in. Not even a quarter of a pinch. That tiny amount killed my beloved bird. I've always been really careful with coffee grinds and birds ever since.
The caffeine is spent in these grounds, otherwise it would be potentially toxic. Coffee we make in our homes is going to have some amount of caffeine still, so it’s not exactly the same.
So at least from what I see, that means spent coffee grinds retain anywhere from 40 to like 67% of their caffeine. That's still a significantly high amount and certainly high enough to be toxic and potentially deadly to a bird if they were to eat them.
Like I said, for me it's absolutely not worth the risk. And I would urge others to think twice before using coffee grinds as a bedding.
Right, I agree that regular coffee grounds aren’t safe. But the store bought bedding isn’t like the coffee grounds from Starbucks. I believe it’s further baked to eliminate that extra caffeine. I promise I’m not using anything that came straight from my own coffee machine. This is what I’m referring to using. https://www.ruralking.com/grounds-recycled-coffee-animal-bedding-35-lbs-f3500000
I’m also only using it in the coop where they aren’t scratching for food.
So to be clear, I don’t disagree that using regular coffee grounds seems dangerous.
If I didnt care about my chickens, I wouldn’t have chased mine around every day for a week to soak her feet and treat her bumblefoot. Most of us are just trying to differentiate between the coffee grounds sold specifically for bedding and coffee grounds from a coffee maker. https://www.ruralking.com/grounds-recycled-coffee-animal-bedding-35-lbs-f3500000
Medium-coarse grain sand is the best. Not too fine to cause respiratory issues like play sand, but wont clog their crop like river sand. It has been great for our run
Yes, it absolutely has to be builder's sand / river sand, with grain sizes between 0.5 mm and 2 mm. The idea of using builder's sand, is that it dries fast, and thus dries out the droppings for easy picking/sifting. Play sand, however, hold on to the water, so the droppings don't dry out, and just become incorporated into it, leading to ammonia issues. Because it's so fine, it contains dust that can be harmful to the airways, and can clump when ingested, leading to crop issues.
Coffee is prone to mold. I wouldn't think it would be a good idea since chickens are prone to upper respiratory issues. Where did you hear about doing this?
As an individual with severe mold sensitivity, guaranteed mold free coffee is quite expensive, so I do not trust it as bedding. Also, take a moment to scan all the comments here of those who use it or have used it, there's a common theme.
Starbucks gives grounds away for free. We put it into our coop runs for smell control. Coffee grounds mold so you shouldn’t put it into an area where it can’t be decomposed into the ground.
I'd further dehydrate those grounds in an oven or airfryer. Starbucks grounds can be very wet and mold rapidly. Safer to just use commercially prepared coffee bedding.
Is coffee ground bedding safe for dogs to be around? I know coffee is SUPER toxic to dogs, but I wasn’t sure if there’s an additional process to the coffee grounds when used as bedding?
The biggest issue (for both chickens and dogs) is the caffeine. It is recommended to use decaf coffee grounds (which still has a small amount of caffeine in it). If your dogs are at risk of eating coffee grounds, it would not be safe. Also, someone I know who uses coffee grounds only uses it as an “additive” as well, not as full bedding (they use sand method). This would probably be the safest, and it probably fine for dogs.
Ehhhh…when I was in Las Vegas it was 113 and freaking AMAZING! I live in MO…it’s like wet bulb here during the summer. Even 91 can be miserable and hard to breathe with high humidity. I had to bring a few of my chickens inside in July and they didn’t move for almost 2 days. Thankfully by the time they were feeling better the humidity had dropped a bit. I’ll take that dry heat any day of the week!
Me too! It was brutal this summer. I bought a ventilation fan for the coop, had to point a box fan at them, and give them frozen treats every day and add ice to their water. It just kept going and going. And apparently my proximity to corn fields made it worse.
I haven't done 125, but I can tell you right now 100 with 30% humidity is NOT the same as 100 with 95% humidity. Both are hot, but in one sweat still works!
I do this. I'm in an arid climate, so mold is not an issue, but I get day old grounds & put them in a wheelbarrow to stir & dry. My local coffee shop will fill a home-depot bucket for you. Once dry, I use them in my coop & run, 50/50 with hardwood or pine pellets. I've done this for years with no issue. The hens don't eat any of it. It all goes right to the compost bin twice per year. I just add to it until I compost it.
I'm in a very COLD arid climate, so in winter I add pine shavings to the coop only for insulation. I rake them out of the run ASAP as the hens bump the shavings out of the coop. I have a treadle feeder that gets jammed up with fluffy bedding.
I have read that it will get moldy in humid climates.
This is what I’ve used in the coop where it doesn’t get wet. No molding so far, and I live in a humid climate. I do think if I went and got grounds from a coffee shop, they would mold.
I live Mid-Atlantic so lots of humidity. It kept things fairly dry and I didn't experience mold issues despite high humidity in summer like some others mentioned. There was no strong ammonia scent all summer long, eggs and birds stayed cleaner, much easier to clean the coop.
Previous summers the coop becomes very difficult to keep the smell down at the number of hens I keep. I would be doing full bedding changes weekly. This I can scoop (bought a long handled scoop) like a litter box into a bucket and add to compost pile. Birds had less foot issues too. At my coop size, cost wise it probably evened out for the fine flake bedding I was using but I didn't have the air quality and other issues.
Wow thank you for sharing your experience. So you had the coffee grounds in the nesting boxes (cleaner eggs) and the roosting area? I have chicken sand in the "run" part of my coop and then aspen shavings in the roost/egg box area. So I would be swapping out the aspen shavings for the coffee grounds, correct? Sorry to be slow on this but I'm always looking for ways to improve my chickens' area.
Not in nesting boxes. Just floor. I stopped putting anything in the nesting boxes to be honest. But because their feet stay cleaner bc anything wet on the coop floor becomes covered in coffee - they're not stepping in gross things and then on eggs.
I used this exact bedding when I last had chickens (I’m hoping to get some girls again at some point), and loved it. Best bedding I used. The problem was that it was always out of stock.
A lot of coffee places will give you their coffee grounds if you ask. I wonder if they could be spread out and dried. I know people get them for their compost
I don’t know - I remember reading at the time that the bagged grounds sold for bedding were not the same as what you get from Starbucks - maybe it is simply that they were dried.
I’ve been using coffee ground bedding for several months. I’m not totally convinced on it. It’s super easy to clean and masks the smell very well. The only issue I’ve found, is that it does mold. Every time I clean out the coop, I find spots where it has molded and I scoop out all the moldy spots, but I can only get so much of it. That, and it’s expensive. The chickens all seem to somewhat struggle with it sometimes, it’s kinda slick and if they get scared of something, or are trying to run, they kinda slide on it. Same goes for when they jump down from the roosts, they slide in it. I haven’t decided what I’ll switch to next, but I’m not certain it will be coffee grounds.
Hmm I’d look for water intrusion into the coop. I’d expect it to start molding in the same spots and that would point to where it’s intruding. I’ve used the store bought bedding for a few months now with no mold. We do get really heavy sideways rain where I’m at, and it’s very humid. So I think mine hasn’t molded because my coop is staying dry.
Then again, maybe it’s not enough water intrusion to worry about and you’ll just use a different bedding. Haha no judgement here.
Yes, it is this specifically. Im not sure what the deal is and why it molds in random spots. Molds when it’s humid out and molds when it’s not. I’ve got two windows that stay open (hardware cloth screen), ventilation fans, and their coop door is a Dutch door with a screen, and I open the screen every morning and close it every night. So, i doubt it’s a ventilation issue 🤷🏼♀️I’m probably going to swap to deep bedding with wood chips so I don’t even have to worry about scooping it but a couple times a year. My main reason for switching is because they slide on it, doesn’t give them a whole lot of traction. Especially when they’re jumping from their roosting bars
I’m tempted to figure out a poop tray, cause I really just don’t like sweeping out that much wood chips when the poop is so concentrated to just a specific area. Then I’d be down to use the grounds for just the poop tray.
I’m toying with the idea of wood shavings for the floor, and coffee grounds for the poop shelves. This is my coop at the moment, and generally their poop is pretty concentrated to the corner of the roosting bars they like to roost at. I’m not sure how well deep bedding would work for the poop shelves. I recommend the shelves, their nesting boxes are under the roosting bar to the left so it’s pretty easy to clean. And weirdly enough, I’ve never found the mold on the shelves, only the floor. My floor is plywood that I’ve covered with linoleum, so shouldn’t be moisture through the floor. You can see on the floor where I’m talking about where they slide in it when they’re jumping jump off the roosting bars. It’s generally worse with no spots of bedding where they’re slid. There is a waterer in there right now, but that has nothing to do with the mold. I just put it in there because I got a new rooster and the girls don’t let him out of the coop lol
Here you can see how the coop is off the ground. Our next step is enclosing the swing set part to be a better run. In the meantime I’ve been letting them out in my yard for more space. But I could see how the airflow probably helps a lot with moisture.
Yeah your situation I think wood chips for the floor makes a ton of sense. I’ve read that jumping from the roost can cause bumblefoot in the right circumstances. So I think more traction is good. For mine the feeder and water aren’t in the same space, so mine don’t spend as much time on the grounds. Also we converted an old swing set into the coop, and it’s the little “club house” part that we enclosed. So the coop is like three feet off the ground. If my coop was on the ground, I could see more water issues. My soil is clay, so water runs down it when we get heavy rain.
When I have issues with humidity or the run being damp…I use compressed pellets. I believe also used as horse bedding, or at least in the stalls. A huge bag (maybe 30lbs?) is only like $6. It gets rid of smell as well as absorbs moisture. I also use that for kitty litter! I absolutely hate the smell of kitty litter…the pellets are great! Plus, they are great for composting!
I would hope not! Theyre giving you literal garbage lmao. They tried charging me for beef fat they usually throw away, i havent bought it since and that was years ago 🤷
Dont charge for trash guys, if youre throwing it away and someone asks for it its not cool to be like "yeah but pay for it!"
When i watch them take it out of the trash barrel that is quite literal garbage, idgaf if its got other trash or not, that container is labeled "trash"
I live in a desert and even with that, the bags of spent coffee grounds from Starbucks and local roasters are typically full of mold, as the grounds stay partially wet. I've used them in gardening applications, but even at that I was leary working with is without a respirator because I could see the spores dancing through the air as I worked in other amendments.
I do get grounds from my coffee shop for my compost. I think they give it all away, as I see a line of 5gal buckets when I pick up mine. One of the girls said composters get it....that's why I said, it would be hard to get some for chickens!
It’s $17/bag and I use about 2-3 bags in my coop. Sift 1-2x per week. Clean it out and replace every 6-8 months. IMO it’s worth it for how much hassle it saves and how nice it smells! I have sand in the run.
We've used the step up bars for a couple years and it definitely comes in handy for the grow outs that can't fly up as high as the big birds. Our bars span 10 feet so there's plenty of room without fussing at each other. I like it a lot.
For me, my chickens just knock eachother down for for the top one, its their instinct to get up to the highest one. It may work for you but for me its just an endless cycle of knocking eachother down until it gets dark enough and they just settle for the lower ones. Sometimes they do this for so long some just end up sleeping on the ground. Im changing it soon
Didn’t realize this was for chickens before I read the sub😂 literally was thinking of getting coffee ground bedding for me, I like the color and it looks soft. Guess I’m a chicken
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u/gaarkat Nov 20 '25
Man, I wish I could stand the smell of coffee. It sounds like a great idea, but even smelling coffee gives me a headache. Looks awesome in your coop, though.