Are pine shavings necessary in the run?

[TooCheep]

No. They really don't eat the leaves (except for small bits as they break down and get picked up with any real goodies).

 

[jreardon1918]

Alittle bit of everything goes into our runs. Not all at once though.

Pine shavings

Wood chips

Pine needles

Leaves

Twigs/sticks

Lawn clippings

Straw

Cornstalks

Bark

We do this ^^^. And after a while it looks like this. Taken today, while most of the girls were dust bathing. In another month we will shovel some of the litter into the gardens. We too have a covered run. It rained for the last couple days. But the litter is dry enough for the dust bath.

 

[3KillerBs]

So many great ideas!
I do have a question, though. I would like to add raked up leaves to my run, however, we have a LOT of walnut and oak trees. Would the tannins and juglone cause my birds to get sick if they were to eat the leaves?

They don't eat the dry leaves.

Opinions vary on how much risk the resulting compost presents to a garden. Those compounds do eventually break down but just how long that takes is uncertain.

 

[MysteryChicken]

We do this ^^^. And after a while it looks like this. Taken today, while most of the girls were dust bathing. In another month we will shovel some of the litter into the gardens. We too have a covered run. It rained for the last couple days. But the litter is dry enough for the dust bath.

One coop has really good composted dirt, but I have to flip the run, since the birds don't scratch through it enough.(Lazy Birds)

But the other coop does it themselves, so I don't have to flip it. Only thing that needs work is the coop's dirt floor.

 

[kentnpatty]

-----------------------
Hey there!
-----------------------
Currently, I only have shavings in the coop. What about the run?
Right now it's just dirt.
-----------------------
The cost of shavings is getting pretty pricey and to fill up the whole run it would be around two full bags.
-----------------------
Thoughts? In a couple months I'm also adding silkies and when the rain hits it does get quite muddy.
-----------------------

Living on the east coast provides us access to crushed shells. The chickens peck at the shells as well as oyster shells we gladly empty for them for calcium. The shells also provide drainage for their waste and eliminated the mud. Hope this helps. We used compressed straw from TSC in their coops.

 

[Sally Winter-Swink]

I use wheat straw in the coop, the nesting boxes, and the covered run, though my flock lives in their fenced uncovered yard and free ranging much of the time. I buy one of those huge bales from a local farmer and it lasts almost a year. I've never had a problem with the birds eating it, but they love scratching in it. I do not put it in the yard beyond what their scratching pulls out there. They love the yard as they can find bugs, dust bathe, or nap under the trees. One $30 bale of straw is a lot cheaper and more fun than bales and bales of TSC pine shavings.

 

[gtaus]

Currently, I only have shavings in the coop. What about the run?
Right now it's just dirt.
-----------------------
The cost of shavings is getting pretty pricey and to fill up the whole run it would be around two full bags.

My philosophy is to first use any "free" resources you might have available for litter. I have successfully used wood chips (free from our county landfill), dried grass, leaves, and currently have been making paper shreds at home and adding them to the litter. I find that the more things you have mixed in the litter, the better it seems to get.

I am fortunate enough to live on 3 acres of land, so I have lots of leaves, grass, and I also have a couple of wood chippers in the shed if I want to make my own wood chips. Our local county landfill gives wood chips away and that is a better option for loading up a trailer full at a time. Last winter I used paper shreds as deep bedding in the coop. That worked out great for me. This spring I dumped all those paper shreds into the chicken run and they quickly disappeared.

My chicken run is full of all kinds of free litter resources. It never smells. It turns into good compost in about 6 months and I harvest it then and put it on my gardens. My chicken run is not covered, so your run litter would probably last a lot longer if not exposed to the rain. In my case, I prefer to have the litter decompose as fast as possible so I can use the compost in my gardens.

Personally, I stopped using straw, pine shavings, and sand years ago. For where I live, the free organic litter I get just works better for me than what I used to buy at the stores for my poultry litter.

 

[Chicken mob]

My run is just dirt, they love scratching in it!

-----------------------
Hey there!
-----------------------
Currently, I only have shavings in the coop. What about the run?
Right now it's just dirt.
-----------------------
The cost of shavings is getting pretty pricey and to fill up the whole run it would be around two full bags.
-----------------------
Thoughts? In a couple months I'm also adding silkies and when the rain hits it does get quite muddy.
-----------------------

Use dirt

 

[rosemarythyme]

My run is just dirt, they love scratching in it!

Use dirt

Might help to specify your climate, soil type, if the run is covered/uncovered, etc. In many cases (i.e. rainy climate + uncovered run), dirt would be insufficient as a form of litter and would just add to an existing mud issue.

 

[Chickn Keaper]

-----------------------
Hey there!
-----------------------
Currently, I only have shavings in the coop. What about the run?
Right now it's just dirt.
-----------------------
The cost of shavings is getting pretty pricey and to fill up the whole run it would be around two full bags.
-----------------------
Thoughts? In a couple months I'm also adding silkies and when the rain hits it does get quite muddy.
-----------------------

No shavings, no straw. Just dirt and put a roof on it. Straw is NASTY. It gets wet then gets dirty and matted and begins to rot but doesn't completely then stinks...