General Run Maintenance Questions

[crazychickenlady81]

Hey Everyone,

I"m a newbie chicken owner with 6, 13-week old chickens. Am I supposed to have liter on the ground of my run? I have wood shavings that I use for the coop that we change out regularly, but I haven't been doing anything for the floor of my run and now that all the grass is gone, the chickens don't seem to like to get their feet dirty, especially after a rain makes everything muddy. I try to let them out to free range almost daily, but I've noticed that when I'm not able to let them out, they seem to prefer to sit in their coop instead of hanging in the run, only coming out to eat and drink. It rained here the last two days, and they refused to leave the coop. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks!

 

[RonP]

Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and click here to read about deep liter.

 

[jballone]

Add old coop shavings to run. It'll help to dry it up and give them something to scratch. Dry leaves too.

 

[blackdog043]

Deep litter or at least put some wood chips in the run for them. This will give them something to scratch in.

 

[Folly's place]

x3! Also fix any drainage issues around the run. And someday, roof it! Mary

 

[aart]

I have a large walk in run and never 'clean' poops from the run,
and there is rarely any nasty odors. The bedding of a good mix of dry plant materials use facilitates this nicely, it's basically no maintenance other than adding more material from time to time. I was able to start with a big load of tree trimmings from the power company that had been aged(6 months) so I avoided the toxic molds that can bloom with fresh chippings. I collect dry leaves in the fall (stored in feed bags in a shed) and add them occasionally, and other garden trimmings. I let my grass grow tall, mow and spread it out with discharge pattern, leave it to dry a few day, then push it into rows with the mower discharge, rake it up and add to run.

What I started with:

'Hay' Day:

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

It doesn't rain too many days out of the year here in So. Cal. But, when it does - it pours. The coop is elevated, so the hens can go under it for shelter. However, we decided to cover the run this month. And I love it! It rained this morning...the girls were able to walk around in their sandy run and keep dry. Now when I have to clean up around the run, I won't get wet either. And now they'll also have added shade in the Summer too.

Getting back to your original question, substrate choice depends on the type of weather conditions you have. And yes, whether or not the run is covered. I know in the UK they like to use wood chips so the chickens don't dirty their feet. You also have to take into account the health of the chickens feet on certain substrates. I have sand in the main run, but the connecting recreation pen has a combination of straw and dirt and some rocks.

God Bless.

 

[Mr Pink]

I'd bet deep litter would change your chickens attitude about pouting in the coop ... something about a pile of loose anything they can't resist tearing apart WITH the added benefit of little or no mud and if consistently added to compost !