Cleaning the run

[jreardon1918]

We are also in the north east. Pretty soon I will remove some of the deep bedding in the run. But that is to add to the gardens. The run doesn't need cleaning in our case. That means no smell. Chicken poop gets scratched in every day. We move the coop shavings and poop to the run and because we add leaves and yard waste to the run, over a year it builds up. And this process certainly helps with some great fruits and vegetables. The process goes like this. Fall add compost from the run to gardens. Fall add leaves, pine needles, annual coop clean out to the run. Do that over and over. The veggie garden did quite well this year.

 

[aart]

My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), I never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.

 

[drinkoj]

My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), I never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.

Believe you compost separately but wondering if you ever dig up any of the cold compost material in the run for the flower beds / garden?
Trying to figure out how & when to start digging out the cold compost materials from the run to throw in the raised gardens we have.

 

[aart]

Believe you compost separately but wondering if you ever dig up any of the cold compost material in the run for the flower beds / garden?
Trying to figure out how & when to start digging out the cold compost materials from the run to throw in the raised gardens we have.

It just to 'compost' the poops.
If I wanted garden soil/amendment I probably wouldn't use rough wood chippings....
...and I'd build one of these! :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ferent-types-of-compost.1410989/post-23181172

 

[GonzoTheGreat]

Well I came to the forum tonight to look for suggestions for new run material because I can't find river sand. I was planning to clean it all out and start fresh. Guess I don't need to do that. Probably just need to add some more wood shavings. Maybe some top soil and leaves? I know the girls like "dirt baths" sometimes, so putting some dirt in there would probably be helpful right?

 

[yakitori]

I don't clean out my run either! it's just dirt underneath and I keep adding leaves. eventually the chickens will shred the leaves down to leaf debris. I then rake that into a composting pile in the corner of the run and add more leaves. Unless its freshly pooped, I rarely even see poop in the run. Mine is a 10x10 with 5 big girls and 3 8 week silkie bantams.

With fall here, I went a little crazy with the leaf litter last week.


and this is the composting heap:

 

[drinkoj]

Well I came to the forum tonight to look for suggestions for new run material because I can't find river sand. I was planning to clean it all out and start fresh. Guess I don't need to do that. Probably just need to add some more wood shavings. Maybe some top soil and leaves? I know the girls like "dirt baths" sometimes, so putting some dirt in there would probably be helpful right?

It won't hurt to put a little soil in there to bring in some helpful microorganisms to start the cold composting process. The girls are going to dig in the shavings/leaves to create a dust bath area all by themselves. I've got holes all in my pine shavings that reach the dirt below making the shavings & dirt holes about 8 inches deep. And for some odd reason they really like doing them near fencing or next to a 6 inch round log I threw in the run for chick and chicken integration and never took out.

 

[drinkoj]

It just to 'compost' the poops.
If I wanted garden soil/amendment I probably wouldn't use rough wood chippings....
...and I'd build one of these! :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ferent-types-of-compost.1410989/post-23181172

Make me one while you're at it.

Makes me think of gold mining shaker screening systems where they use a variety of screens, bigger holes on top and they get smaller going down, using gravity and the shaking motion being used to sift out the rock material.