Floor of outdoor chicken run

[TrulyFowl]

You know, I should actually start a new thread for this question. I sure have a lot to learn! Thanks everyone!

 

[barredcountrycoop]

Right now my floor is simply dirt. At least once a week I rake the floor and remove all of the mess, hasn't been a problem for 8 months. Heard you can mix 3 parts dirt with 1 part cement and spread it out on your floor, then wet it down with a hose and it'll dry and harden like a concrete floor, to the point you can hose it off. That was my plan but raking it seems to be working.

 

[barredcountrycoop]

oh yeah forgot to mention, my run is covered which makes it easier

 

[Amethyste]

Trulyfowl:

Dont get hydrated lime that wil give owies to their toes what what i have been told.

I got mine at the local co-op. Its called agricultural/garden lime. I was recommended it by the local poultry guru at the co-op and it works! Have not seen any owies with their feet or anything,

It says right on the bag its non-irritating, will not burn grass etc (like we HAVE grass in our run ), magnesium added to limestone etc. I have had no issues at all with it. I dont put down a ton mind you either. I just take out a chicken scoop full of it...probably about 2 -3 cups, and sprinkle it over the run. Its a 10x10 run. I rake it a bit after, and then put about 1-2 cups DE down. This is usually in the evening as well, otherwise I get "helpers". I just rake the bark chips over and boom there you go.

The smell cuts drastically for us, and we have noticed it only when we are right at the pen and down lower at their level, or when it rains. But since we put the sand and chips in its much better!

 

[comp6512]

Quote:

That sounds like me. Luckily, there is a TSC a couple of miles down the road; they sure will have their share of my questions.

 

[emjay]

so, just to clarify, do you all recommend sand with a layer of wood shavings OR wood chips??
my outdoor run is grass and dirt right now, was just going to do a fruit netting over top of the run, but, hadn't really considered the mud aspect of things. It rains alot here on the island, I guess I'll have to break the bad news to hubby, that he has to build that roof after all, that he thought he had, and I had told him he didn't, my bad. haha.

 

[hennylane]

In the Pacific Northwest, rain is the enemy and good drainage your best friend. Chickens and their people do not really want to hang out in a wet run, and it makes cleaning a pain. We had a uncovered concrete run with dirt borders from old flower beds. -Constantly wet and smelly, so we jackhammered up most of the concrete, leaving enough to give us dry footing in inclement weather. We then added about 3 inches of gravel and an equal amount of sand to provide drainage. We use pine litter from a local feedstore and we sprinkle PDZ or another chicken safe topping for keeping barn stalls dry on top of our mixture. We also have a half-cask from a winery with dirt and DE since our girls really liked that spot for dust baths. Pest strips or a bug zapper also come in handy if you don't mind dealing with them. To further keep things clean, our feeder and waterer are hanging, and we feed treats in old pie pans or lay them directly on one of the remaining concrete spots.

If it is too difficult to cover your whole run, look into buying or repurposing a metal gazebo frame or something that you can put a tarp on to have a dry zone. We are working out the covering for our run now and hope to have at least 75% of it covered to provide shade in the summer and a dry area in the winter.

If you are getting free wood chips from the city, you have to know where they came from because you do not want toxic cedar in your coop.


Hope this helps!

 

[Kelsey Cathy]

So after digging out 3" of compacted, smelly 'stuff' in my chickens run I decided there had to be something better and read all the posts here. Wow, there are alot of great ideas here. I like the sand idea but I just want to clarify the layering process before I start.
My run is covered and slopes slightly for run-off if necessary. The girls are in the run during the day on weekdays and free range for a few hours in the early evening and free range all day on weekends when we are home to watch over them.

So as I understand it: on the bare dirt you put DE and hydrated lime.
Then, (and this is where I get confused) you put pea gravel, road base, DG or something? Is this step even necessary?
And then on top of that a couple inches of sand with another dusting of DE and lime.

Thanks everyone for sharing their wisdom.

 

[Hunter0704]

To out of the brooder.....

To keep mud out of your run, you might try what I am using. The ground of the run is covered with hardware cloth, for safety from predators...on top of that is landscape cloth...on top of that is a yard of pea gravel. I have no mud whatsoever. I also have ducks in with the chicks who are really, really messy with water. The whole area is mud free and all the water falls through the gravel and runs away from the coop. To clean the poop in the run, all it takes is a hose with the nozzle set on sprinkle...shoot it at the poop, it dissolves and washes it out under the rock....as for places for the chickens to scratch, they scratch in the pea gravel but of course, don't get a lot of bugs especially now that winter is here.

You had a good idea with the pea gravel, but you need something under it to keep it from sinking into the dirt.

Good luck!

 

[Davaroo]

In the early 50's, a book was written in Britain called "The Henyard," by Geoffrey Sykes.
In it he described a henyard covered in straw, doing the same job as your gravel. Essentially, it keeps the birds out of the mud and off the ground. 6-8" of straw is not too much and more wont hurt. You can think of it as an outdoor 'deep litter.'

But unlike gravel, which is rather sterile, the straw harbors an amazing array of life. Everything from seedlings to zoo-microbial organisms will thrive in this straw - providing the chickens with an array of micronutrients never imagined to exist in gravel beds. Once a month the straw can be raked over and after a year, the straw can be replaced with fresh.
The soiled straw, now broken down significantly, can then be sent to the fields and gardens to build the soil.

"The Henyard" is rather hard to find, I'm sorry to say, and may be considered rare. It was only published in limited numbers and merely good copies may run to $100.
I've seen pristine ones go for over $200 - when they can be found on these shores at all. I was very lucky to get my copy for around $25, and that was via a personal contact in Britain.
Sadly, Mr Sykes' theories came at a time when the poultry industry in Britain was abandoning fold (pasture) rearing of birds in favor of what we now call "industrial" methods.
His straw hen yard notion offered a cheap, natural way to increase the profits and health of Britain's flocks, at a time when post-war Britain needed it most.
Swept away in the rush to achieve big, clean agri-biz results, his detailed methods are all but forgotten today.


If I were to start an outdoor "chicken run," I'd make sure it had the following:

1. Predator proof fencing.
2. Windbreaking features
3. Sturdy draft free shelters/coops.
4. Excellent drainage and well percolated soil.
5. Straw as a flooring material - lots and lots of straw.