Best thing in your run -- besides the chickens, of course!

[JurassicChicken]

I forgot to mention that my run is shaded by some very large oak trees. In the autumn, when the acorns fall, its fun to watch the hens race the local squirrel (who lives in one of the trees) chasing acorns when they hit the ground. Of course the chickens can't do anything with the acorns, but they apparently like to race the squirrel and peck at the acorns. Makes the squirrel fussy.

 

[thewatsonfarm]

Don't use commercially grown sod as it is usually is full of fertilizers and other chemicals. You can seed grass and grow it in a frame, that way you can control what's added into the soil and what's not.

Oh gosh! Thank you -- that didn't even occur to me!

 

[thewatsonfarm]

Our rooster is obsessed with his reflection in the side of the truck whenever he gets to free range....he attacked it at first, but now he just puzzles over it....
View attachment 1416413

I can see why he's so fascinated! That's one handsome rooster he's looking at!

 

[deepbluesea]

Hah! I don't have a roo, but my lead hen went all out on her reflection for a good five minutes when I put up the mirror. Now all of them take a peek at themselves pretty much daily.

 

[lazy gardener]

Deep litter, frequent addition of grass clippings and garden debris, overgrown garden veggies, hay bales, including a hay bale pyramid/tunnel (2 on the bottom with space between them, a piece of plywood spanning the space, and a 3rd bale on top.) pallet propped up on cinder blocks.

 

[thewatsonfarm]

Deep litter, frequent addition of grass clippings and garden debris, overgrown garden veggies, hay bales, including a hay bale pyramid/tunnel (2 on the bottom with space between them, a piece of plywood spanning the space, and a 3rd bale on top.) pallet propped up on cinder blocks.

Wow! That sounds fabulous! I was wanting to put a straw bale in our run too. My girls love to pull straw pieces out of the bales, but I don't think they're actually eating the straw. I read a thread about how straw can get stuck in the hens' crops and kill them, and that freaked me out. But I trust your judgement, Lazy Gardener. Do you think there's any difference between a straw or hay bale in this regard?

 

[lazy gardener]

Huge difference. Straw is the left over stalks after grain is harvested. Quite coarse. Hay is various grasses that are harvested for animal feed. Seed heads are intact. IMO, impacted crops will not happen if the birds have frequent access to green matter, and grit, and they are healthy. In the past 6 years, I've only had one issue with crop impaction. IMO, the bird had some underlying issue.