Cleaning an enclosed dirt run?

[harmonyp]

I'm in Northern California, Bay Area - inland where it's very hot and very dry. I too have an enclosed run, that opens out to a large fenced area for day free-ranging, but then the run (and enclosed coop) are closed up at night. My property's ground is sand. In the run I dug down 8 inches and buried chicken wire to keep out the ground squirrels, then put the natural sand back in, over.

In hot and dry, the sand works wonderfully. I rake it regularly (from daily to weekly, depending), and do add fresh sand when it seems "stale and lifeless" - taking some out if the level gets too high. If it were my only run area I might use a different method, as it doesn't support much of any bug life.

 

[aart]

I thought dried leaves were a no no for disease purposes?

Not sure where you got that.
Dried leaves are fine if they are mixed in with other larger materials so you don't get a 'wet pack' situation.
It's when they get wet and packed together that molds and other anaerobic nasties can form.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Dried leaves are great when mixed with a good amount of wood chips, for example. The chickens love scratching through them and they break down very quickly and help enrich the soil in/under the litter.

If you use nothing but dried leaves they do tend to get slimy and stuck together when wet, which doesn't allow for good drainage.

 

[ehoneybee]

Not sure where you got that.
Dried leaves are fine if they are mixed in with other larger materials so you don't get a 'wet pack' situation.
It's when they get wet and packed together that molds and other anaerobic nasties can form.

The run gets really wet in spring but I could try using them in summer.

 

[concrete_boots]

I rake my dirt run with a metal rake/pooper scooper about once a week and put poop in composter.
I then scoop out any poop from coop and sweep out most of the coop pine shavings right into the run, therefore coop & run get a spruce up and run stays pretty dry if it’s rainy, but run is mostly covered also.

 

[ehoneybee]

I rake my dirt run with a metal rake/pooper scooper about once a week and put poop in composter.
I then scoop out any poop from coop and sweep out most of the coop pine shavings right into the run, therefore coop & run get a spruce up and run stays pretty dry if it’s rainy, but run is mostly covered also.

I raked it all up and it looks so much better! I put the straw and pine shavings on a part of my garden where I plan to plant my veggies next spring