"Free range/run" cleaning. Strange question.

[jpalmatier83]

So, my girls supervised free range about 10 hours a day. With the stupid hot weather we've been having here in northern Michigan they've found that their favorite spot to chill is the deep shade under the porch attached to the back of the house. They have many places they could go but that's where they choose. Do I "generally" have to worry about it getting poppy and smelly, or if it has good drainage and whatnot should it be ok?

 

[BackyardFlock17]

You should be OK, my hens love to take dirtbaths and sit in the shade of the exact same pine trees every time they are out, it isn't very bad and doesn't get too smelly.

 

[jpalmatier83]

Great. Hope you're right!

I'll update if I run into issues.

 

[aart]

Guess it might depend on if it's always good and dry under there......
......as you probably know, with chickens wet can equal stinky.

Might also depend on how much time do they really spend under there.

Another consideration/concern might be fly propagation.

How hard would it be to clean out under there if needed?
If too much of a pain, you might want to fence it off now to avoid any future issues.
Ounce of prevention and all that.

Curious how you pull off 10 hours of 'supervised' free ranging?
Sounds like a more than full time job ;-)

 

[jpalmatier83]

Thanks for the insight aart.

My work is all by appointment and fairly sporadic. So, some days and on the weekends they get out about noon. Other days they may only get like 4 hours. When I say "supervised" I mean I'm home and can hear them making noises, also check on them hourly. Not constantly watching them. I keep them cooped while no ones home.