Chicken Run Stuff?

[Sunny-Side Up]

Hi fellow chicken-ers! I'm going to be getting chicks again this spring and I'm really excited! I have a rock, roost, grass, garden scraps, and fun treats hanging. What ideas do you have? Also, is there any really simple, easy way to make and maintain a dust bath? I've heard of several ideas, but all of them seem to have? Thanks!

 

[jthornton]

I use a storage tubby that is under roof so it stays dry. I use a sifter thing to clean the feathers and poop out of the sifted dirt. They like to sit on the rim and have board meetings several times a day.
This is Pig Pen when they still lived in the brooder. What a mess that was lol.

Here is where it stays now.


JT

 

[Smuvers Farm]

I use a storage tubby that is under roof so it stays dry. I use a sifter thing to clean the feathers and poop out of the sifted dirt. They like to sit on the rim and have board meetings several times a day.
This is Pig Pen when they still lived in the brooder. What a mess that was lol.
View attachment 1202724
Here is where it stays now.
View attachment 1202732

JT

I wonder if one of those sifting cat litter boxes would work like this!

 

[jthornton]

I wonder if one of those sifting cat litter boxes would work like this!

I don't think I'd want to pick the whole box up and shake it out, it would be pretty heavy.

JT

 

[PirateGirl]

I wonder if one of those sifting cat litter boxes would work like this!

I have one of these for my cat. I hate it. It's generally easier and less messy to just scoop it out the old fashioned way than to use the built in sifter.

For my chickens' dust bath I do actually use a cat litter pan with soft dirt and wood ash in it, just not the sifting kind of pan. I just totally dump it out (into the run) and refill it periodically. I'm not sure the girls like it any better than scratching around in the dirt and making their own holes, but it helps when the ground is frozen. In summer I often just dig a little hole in their run and they quickly go to town in it.

 

[PirateGirl]

Also tree stumps and/or tree branches in the run can be fun. I move things around once in awhile or flip them over and they become interesting all over again.

 

[jthornton]

For my chickens' dust bath I do actually use a cat litter pan with soft dirt and wood ash in it.

What does the wood ash do and how much do you add? I heat my two shops and garage with wood so I have steady supply.

JT

 

[RonP]

Wood ash is highly alkaline.
Helps control mites and lice when chickens bath in it.
Just a scoop full or 2 will do.

 

[jthornton]

Is mites and lice a year round problem or just a warmer weather problem?

JT

 

[oceansunset73]

I have in my run:

Stumps for their jungle gym

An outside daytime roost

A mirror (they love this, they all line up in a straight row right in front of the mirror and preen themselves each day) They are such girlie-girls.

A hanging treat; sometimes it's broccoli or a cabbage ball...something yummy they can peck at.