What's the best ground cover for a run

[ezicash]

Hello Monica

When i first put my chicks outside about 8 weeks old I had to push them into their coop and lock the door and I did that everynight at about 8 pm and get up at 6 am and let them out of the coop. After 1-1/12 weeks they now go into the coop all by themselves at 8 pm like they know the time. My friend did not believe me so i had him sit outside with me and watch and all of a sudden the chicks were gone, so I asked my friend ":what time is it?" and it was 7:55 pm OK so they are 5 min early. (smile) So now all I have to do is lock the coop door and that is it! I do not close the upper door, which i know I should but it has been so warm here i was afraid they would not get enough ventilation.
here is a picture of my coop

 

[Monica58]

Pretty much if I leave the chicken coop door closed during the day, they are ready to go in at dusk. My biggest issue is getting them to go in after a couple of hours roaming around in the morning before I go to work. This morning I had an important appointment to get to, so I just left them roaming and left the door open in case they wanted to eat or get water.

Monica

 

[Monica58]

Your chicken coop looks very nice. How many chickens do you have?

Monica

 

[ezicash]

I had 4 rhode island reds but one turned out to be a rooster so he is now with a new family with lots of lady friends. So I have 3 Rhode Island Reds hens 3 1/2 months old.

 

[Monica58]

It's getting pretty nasty in the chicken coop. I have already put about 11 bags of sand and it's an area of 10' X 12'. What do some of you recommend. I hose it out and try to jet the poop down into the sand hoping it works like a pool pump filter but it's not working like I thought it would. Should I use a heavy metal rake and rake back & forth to distribute the poop to go down more. Should I use hay on top of this? should I do a floor out of treated wood with openings between lengths to hose it down? The chicken free range most of the day on about 5 acres of land, so I didn't think it would get so stinky and poopy. Guess I was wrong.

Monica

 

[Monica58]

I have 6 chickens.

Monica

 

[ADozenGirlz]

I buy play sand (40 lbs) and place 1/2 bag in a large but shallow tote but everytime it rains my playsand somehow gets moist and i have to change it. Can I use screening sand since I have plenty left over from my shed flooring. This is for their dust bath. Their run is on grass and I move their run once a month to new grass. I keep tarp over half my run/coop for shad and protection from rain but my sand still get wet

Your best bet would be to use construction grade, washed sand in the entire run. Any bedding you use is going to get wet to some degree when it rains. Sand is ideal because it drains beautifully, is easy to clean and makes the coop and run one big dusting area for the girls! Play sand is not recommended for dust baths (or any purpose with chickens, really).

 

[Jessiehughes86]

So if you have sand in your run, do you still need to scoop up poop? How often? I have 4 chickens in an enclosed chicken run. It started out as grass/weeds but of course they destroyed that quickly. I've added grass clippings and weeds periodically. But it's starting to STINK and become a fly pen Thinking I may need to clean up droppings more often? Add sand?

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Yes, you will need to clean poop out of the chicken run, but sand makes it a breeze because the poop sits on top of the sand and is dried out. I use a kitty litter scoop and/or a rake to clean the run. With four chickens, it'll take you 30 seconds to have a clean coop and run that will smell clean and be virtually fly-free.

 

[aart]

So if you have sand in your run, do you still need to scoop up poop? How often? I have 4 chickens in an enclosed chicken run. It started out as grass/weeds but of course they destroyed that quickly. I've added grass clippings and weeds periodically. But it's starting to STINK and become a fly pen Thinking I may need to clean up droppings more often? Add sand?

Yes, poops will need to be removed from sand....
.....or you could use a mix of dry plant materials and never have to clean up poops again....no more stinky!

Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

Power company tree trimmings aged for 6 months....perfect!

Add some dry grass 'hay' and/or dry leaves once in a while.