Dusty Run

[Jasfarm]

Hello!

Thanks to the lovely folks here, my chickens have a covered run for the winter (New England).

The run is 8x16 and is open-air until right about now, when we put up their custom plastic sheeting panels.

(Only one chick sleeps in the coop )

After:

The panels go almost to the top of each wood panel (not up to the red in picture 1).

The roof is open, but covered with hardware cloth.

Look from the inside:

(Yes, that’s a bobcat from the other night Electric Fences save lives people!)

But you can kind of get an idea of the slant of the roof and how it’s all open up there. So we should be good on ventilation (I hope).

My problem is the dust. It’s out of control and cover everything! We use sand in the run and they have a dust bath area with sand, wood ash, and dirt. PDZ is used on poop boards for moisture.

Is there not enough ventilation? My poor chicks are sneezing whenever I scoop (daily-2x a day).

Thank you!

 

[nuthatched]

They only way to stop the dusty is to let it get damp. I'd nix the wood ashes, they can become caustic the respiratory systems and eyes.

 

[thecatumbrella]

My problem is the dust. It’s out of control and cover everything! We use sand in the run and they have a dust bath area with sand, wood ash, and dirt. PDZ is used on poop boards for moisture.

Is there not enough ventilation? My poor chicks are sneezing whenever I scoop (daily-2x a day).

I just posted about this a few weeks ago! I ended up changing out the medium, but we use mulch so it was a lot easier. Nuthatched is correct in that moisture is the only thing that will slow the dust down.

Are your panels easy enough to remove? Open them up on the non-windy side whenever you can (or if you're doing a big clean up).

Keep us posted on what you end up doing. My intention was to build a new run next year with a sand base, but I'm paranoid of ending up with the same dust issue that you're dealing with!

 

[ChikinInThePines]

That is a beautiful run!! We may end up covering ours as well like that.
We live in South Carolina and when it gets dry it gets DUSTY. The only thing I can really think of is to put down a good layer of straw? This will at least prevent some of the dust from getting kicked up?

 

[K0k0shka]

Sand is not a good run medium. If you make it wet to avoid dust, it will freeze solid once temperatures start dropping. In addition to dusty, it also gets poopy and stays poopy unless you actually scoop regularly, because unlike carbon materials like plant matter (wood chips, dry leaves, grass, straw, hay, etc.) the inorganic sand will contribute nothing towards any composting action, so the poop will just sit there until you clean it. When it dries out, it gets pulverized when the chickens walk/scratch and grind it down with the sand. So now you have the chickens and yourself inhaling poop dust in addition to the sand/ash/dirt dust. Yuck.

I would highly recommend changing the medium to something plant-based that has larger particles, or at least a variety of particles. What I use is a combination of wood chips, dry leaves (which I collect in the fall, bag and store so I can use them throughout the year to add to the run), grass clippings in the summer, weeds from the garden, and any other yard waste I have. This provides a variety of particles which helps with drainage, and it keeps the medium from getting too dusty. It composts slowly over time as the chickens churn it. And best of all, you don't have to clean it! My run is covered on the sides in winter as well, and mostly covered on top, but I still have an open area at the back and some on top, to get fresh air in there and some moisture from rain/snow. So mine isn't 100% dry except immediately under the covered area. Having lots of fresh air in there and some moisture is good, don't seal it too tight.

 

[Jasfarm]

I just posted about this a few weeks ago! I ended up changing out the medium, but we use mulch so it was a lot easier. Nuthatched is correct in that moisture is the only thing that will slow the dust down.

Are your panels easy enough to remove? Open them up on the non-windy side whenever you can (or if you're doing a big clean up).

Keep us posted on what you end up doing. My intention was to build a new run next year with a sand base, but I'm paranoid of ending up with the same dust issue that you're dealing with!

Sugar snap! Haha we are all in the same boat. If only they would use their cute little feathered rumps to dust for us. Now that’s an idea

I’ll keep you posted! Maybe I’ll try mulch too - thank you!

 

[Jasfarm]

They only way to stop the dusty is to let it get damp. I'd nix the wood ashes, they can become caustic the respiratory systems and eyes.

Oh! Thank you! I didn’t know this! Wood ash is going back in the garden

 

[Jasfarm]

That is a beautiful run!! We may end up covering ours as well like that.
We live in South Carolina and when it gets dry it gets DUSTY. The only thing I can really think of is to put down a good layer of straw? This will at least prevent some of the dust from getting kicked up?

They did like the straw last year! Kept them a little warmer - just so messy!

 

[rosemarythyme]

If it goes up pretty close to the red area, it's too covered up IMO. I think people overdo it on buttoning up runs, you really only want to block off the predominant wind direction(s). Unless you live somewhere where there's crazy winds from all directions, there should be at least 1 or 2 sides that are completely open or close to it.

 

[Jasfarm]

Sand is not a good run medium. If you make it wet to avoid dust, it will freeze solid once temperatures start dropping. In addition to dusty, it also gets poopy and stays poopy unless you actually scoop regularly, because unlike carbon materials like plant matter (wood chips, dry leaves, grass, straw, hay, etc.) the inorganic sand will contribute nothing towards any composting action, so the poop will just sit there until you clean it. When it dries out, it gets pulverized when the chickens walk/scratch and grind it down with the sand. So now you have the chickens and yourself inhaling poop dust in addition to the sand/ash/dirt dust. Yuck.

I would highly recommend changing the medium to something plant-based that has larger particles, or at least a variety of particles. What I use is a combination of wood chips, dry leaves (which I collect in the fall, bag and store so I can use them throughout the year to add to the run), grass clippings in the summer, weeds from the garden, and any other yard waste I have. This provides a variety of particles which helps with drainage, and it keeps the medium from getting too dusty. It composts slowly over time as the chickens churn it. And best of all, you don't have to clean it! My run is covered on the sides in winter as well, and mostly covered on top, but I still have an open area at the back and some on top, to get fresh air in there and some moisture from rain/snow. So mine isn't 100% dry except immediately under the covered area. Having lots of fresh air in there and some moisture is good, don't seal it too tight.

Oh thank you! We love the sand, especially in the summer. I scoop every day most of the time 2x a day. But maybe adding some organic material would help. They love when I toss leaves in there. We save a lot of leaves for pollinators, but I bet they would be willing to share with the chicks

Maybe the top just isn’t enough open air and space. It does get some moisture when it snows or rains and it fogs up.