Ground cover for run

[BoomChickWow]

Advice needed. I was stressing over what to use as ground cover in my run and finally just decided to put sand under the coop and leave the rest as dirt. My 6 chickens love to lay in the sand but also love pecking around in the dirt. I wanted wood chips but have had a hard time finding them so I have been throwing weeds in there (all the weeds that grow in my yard are safe for them). Can I throw short grass clippings in just for more ground cover? Is it ok for it to be mostly dirt? I have just been raking it around occasionally is that good enough? The sand part I scoop out but I didn’t want sand for the entire run as I am looking for lower maintenance. If i can get some wood chips i will throw those in but not sure when that will happen.

 

[Theorrin]

i have dirt in my main pen. good for dust bathing so i dont see it being an issue. and grass/dirt in the run

 

[BoomChickWow]

i have dirt in my main pen. good for dust bathing so i dont see it being an issue. and grass/dirt in the run

Do you just add organic material on top of it every so often or toss it around to keep it from getting too poopy?

 

[FunClucks]

Yes, short grass clippings in the run is fine, and any weeds you can toss in there. If you water your run periodically, it will help the poo compost, but encourage growth of worms (intestinal worms), so it's a fine balance. I've moved to keeping the run dry and only watered to keep down dust, and changing out the chips semi-yearly to compost down the heavily poo-loaded chips and dirt.

Also this might help you find wood chips.
https://getchipdrop.com/

 

[Theorrin]

Do you just add organic material on top of it every so often or toss it around to keep it from getting too poopy?

mine tend to scratch all around so ive never had to add anything

 

[BoomChickWow]

Yes, short grass clippings in the run is fine, and any weeds you can toss in there. If you water your run periodically, it will help the poo compost, but encourage growth of worms (intestinal worms), so it's a fine balance. I've moved to keeping the run dry and only watered to keep down dust, and changing out the chips semi-yearly to compost down the heavily poo-loaded chips and dirt.

Also this might help you find wood chips.
https://getchipdrop.com/

I have signed up for chip drop but wasn’t sure about how long I would need to let the chips dry out. It looks like quite a long wait in my area but maybe I will get on the list. Have you used them?

 

[FunClucks]

I have signed up for chip drop but wasn’t sure about how long I would need to let the chips dry out. It looks like quite a long wait in my area but maybe I will get on the list. Have you used them?

My sister did. She had wood chips the next day. I"m in North Alabama.

As far as letting them dry out, you can leave them as long as you want to. Mine are generally partially composted when they finally get into the run. I remind myself chickens were originally living on the jungle floor, and I have a completely open air run, so odds are they can handle some decomposing mulch. I've never had any issues.

I do let them dry out well before I put them under the roost they use at night, but in the run they're fine. I have a totally covered run, and they dry out in there in a few weeks.

ETA chip drop is a bit of a grab bag. You get what's in your area and what they happen to have available. But if you have specific trees you don't want, they should be able to accommodate when you talk to the person trying to deliver. Also, since my mulch soon dries out, that does minimize the infection risk to my trees from whatever was in the mulch.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Knowing your climate would help a lot in making suggestions, i.e. sand works better in dry, almost arid climates, whereas deep litter favors having needs some moisture.

 

[BoomChickWow]

Knowing your climate would help a lot in making suggestions, i.e. sand works better in dry, almost arid climates, whereas deep litter favors having needs some moisture.

I am in Northern Colorado. We have a dry climate most of the year but can get a decent amount of snow in winter

 

[rosemarythyme]

I am in Northern Colorado. We have a dry climate most of the year but can get a decent amount of snow in winter

So if it's usually dry you might be better off sticking with sand or dirt, as you may not see enough composting action with deep litter which would mean you'd still need to remove poop as it won't break down, unless you add more moisture to the equation.