chickens in small city lot.....run bedding question

[gabe13]

Hello, I currently have some ISA brown hens that have been moved into their permanent home which is a little tykes playhouse that I elevated 30" off the floor. I will soon be opening the doorway on the bottom of the coop to give them a chance to move around freely in the run. Right now they will only have a 4'x6' run. The rest of the run will be open to them as soon as I decide whether it will be a covered run. As of right now, only the 4'x6' platform that the coop is sitting on has a cover.

To give you a better idea, my property is a 30'x125' city lot. My house sits on the front of the property with my detached garage in the back by the alley. Between my garage and neighbor's property line, there is a 6' wide space which is my property. That is where my coop and run (which is 4' wide) is located up against my garage where there is a 2' walkway on my side of the property bordering the fence that separates property lines.

My goal is to keep smell and maintenance to a minimum. I currently use granular sweet pdz as the coop bedding which is so far working great (it's a small coop). My main concern is the bedding in the run, it's currently just dirt. My main concern since I live in such a tight city residence is to not piss off the neighbor with a smelly mess. They are currently great with me having chickens and I would like to keep it that way.

So what bedding is recommended for the run? Should I keep it just dirt? Am I better off putting in some gravel before I let the chickens roam the run? I also have a friend that told me he had crushed limestone that he could give me, if gravel is the way to go, is limestone ok/safe?

 

[Judy]

Actually from what I've read, sand would be your best bet.

 

[terryg]

Coarse builders sand applied to packed dirt creates drainage and loosens up the ground. Raking the poultry pen and removing the manure goes a long way to keeping it tidy, smell-free and a good consistency. Hens need to be able to dust bathe and they can't do that in gravel. I suggest that you supply your hens with a dust bath in a tub - I use an inexpensive kitty litter box. Half fill with the coarse sand, and add a cup of food-grade diatomaceous earth. Put this in a sheltered spot or in the coop. Your hens will appreciate it since they are in a confined space. You can see how I care for my packed dirt runs on a live-streaming cam at www.HenCam.com. I also have FAQs about manure management and composting, which is the key when keeping hens on a small plot.