Added a ton of leaves to the coop and run= chicken heaven!

[TOP KNOT]

Quote:
I have horses and I got a 1sr cutting batch that is kind of stemy so I have chopped up a few bails. (they go from large to where did it go?!) It spreads out nicely, I put the load of leaves over it. It started out as a mountain of leaves...now its flat and tattered! Everything mixed up nicely and my eggs stay clean. I try my hardest to keep a tidy coop to have clean eggs. The shredded bails are mostly alfalfa and a tad of grass. It gives them some greens when they are kept in. Also no worries of crop binding as its all chopped up!

 

[susanp970]

What a great idea, my girls when loose love scratching and dozing in the leaves. And what pretty colors chickens and fall leaves.

 

[swimmy44]

doesn't matter if leaves are dry or wet if you put them in, they get scruffed up and dry out quick enough.

 

[Joan71]

I've only had our five girls for three weeks, but I've been adding leaves a couple times a week to their 8'x12' run area so we can start the deep litter method. Their 4'x8' elevated coop on top of their run has sand on the floor.

I'm trying to figure out what to add for bedding after I run out of fall's leaves this winter. In the spring and summer I'll throw in cut grass.

I use straw. They love it. I put a couple of bunches in the run, they scratch through it hunting for bugs, seeds, etc. When they are done with the straw, it is all broken down into small pieces. I clean out the run, put the poop and straw on my composting pile. Then when they free range, they head for the compost pile and work it some more. I got some great compost for my fall garden from their efforts. I use sand in their coop for the floor, and added some straw for their nesting area. They are happy and healthy so it must be the right combination for them. I sprinkle some DE into the straw and hay to keep the lice and fleas at bay. Good luck.

 

[cheepguy]

What a great idea for winter. Only problem I have is living in living in the Arizona desert where scorpions and many types of poisonous snakes also live. I can see them making a home in the leaves when its cold and either I or my chickens stepping onto their nests and getting struck or bitten.

 

[RiverKatt]

We use leaves, but now we use horse hay or pasture grass because it also feeds Barney ( a Sulcata Tortoise of about 90 lbs that lives with them in the yard - not the henhouse ! ) cuz using straw or plain hay turned the clay dirt/ soil cement like, like bricks that I'm still digging out several years later & it's still solid !

 

[alandbailey]

I use Miscanthus (chopped elephant grass) for bedding - when I muck them out I put the soiled bedding in a heap in their run - it doesn't take long before the girls have scratched it over and spread it out. I find that straw just sits on the surface and matts, so I compost it.
I put a spare duck house in the chicken run and spread straw in it - the girls either eat it or scr4atch it out.

 

[Pokey11]

I keep bringing containers full of mulch and throwing in the run. The people who trim trees and grind them up dump all that, at our University Orchard in North Las Vegas, and its free to anyone. Once a month I throw the containers in and they are so busy moving it, pecking it, and just having fun, that I really look forward to doing this. I started this when I discovered the natural ground being so full of stones that they were hurting the feet of the hens, and so-- mulch seems to be solving that problem. But the ground up wood I think will be warmer on their feet this winter than just the earth.

 

[Kim95037]

I use pine shavings, its and its awesome. I buy them from the Tractor Store, they have two different kinds, I buy the flake as opposed to the fine because its less dusty. They are cheap and it lasts for a long time. I usually go thru every day and pick out the bigger poo with my poo grabber and the shavings will last for 3 or 4 months before I have to clean them out and replace them. This is with 8 chickens.
My new girls laid their first eggs this weekend! My Red Stars Natalie and Daphne. YAAAAYYYY!!!!

 

[casademicluck]

We use pine shavings, they work great. For $5 you get a giant package and it lasts forever. We fill the coop and when the coop is dirty we push the old shavings into their yard and add new to the coop again. For us this works great, we do this about every 2 months and we have no odor. Every six months or so we will clean the old shavings out of the yard and add to out flower and veggie beds! Great stuff! and the Girls love the new shavings.