ground maintenance in a chicken run?

[RonP]

Deep litter will not work unless you can keep the run dry

My outdoor run is 8-24" deep.

No cover.

Wet everytime it rains.

No different than a compost pile, only chickens are constantly turning it for me.

Works GREAT.

 

[blue speckles]

I live north of Houston, I use leaves in my run. About 6 to 8 inches. It helps keep the run from turning into a mud pit with all of this rain plus it gives the chickens something to dig through. They get all excited when I add new leaves.

 

[Mahlzeit]

It doesn't stink something fierce when its rainy and muddy?

 

[RonP]

My deep litter smells no worse than a forest floor after a rainfall.

No mud, flies, or bad odors ever, if done correctly.

Do a search on compost.

This is in reality what deep litter is all about.

 

[blue speckles]

No. To me the smell of the rain and "earth smells" are stronger smells. I live on a little more than an acre of land with kids,dogs,cats,ducks and 8 chickens that have a 200 sq foot run that is deep with the leaves from the oak trees in the yard. It keeps my chickens from slipping in this lovely Texas mud and keeps the chickens from standing in water. It works really well for me.

 

[northcolors]

Hi, I got some bags of sand today. Going to try that now. Perhaps in Spring will put in some leaves and deep litter ingredients. Thanks.

 

[missy1462]

I know this is an older post, but thought I'd add what we have done also. Our girls were standing in water in places when it rained, and it started to smell bad, so we brought in a dump truck load of screenings from the rock yard. Screenings are what is left when the crusher crushes the rock into different sizes. It packs well and has the benefit of providing the girls with all the grit they want. The biggest plus is that it controls the drainage wonderfully.

 

[RonP]

Do you think that eventually the drainage will clog, and you will have mud on top of the packed screenings??

This is the very reason I used wood chips, 8" high to start.

 

[missy1462]

RonP, so far so good. We had a deluge of rain yesterday and I noticed a few low spots in the run where water was standing, but in just a few minutes, the screenings had it all drained down. My hubs is a bridge/roadway inspector and here in our state, contractors use screenings on certain elements of construction because the screenings handle water so well. They've been in our run for a few months now and look just like we put them in yesterday. The girls were not happy with us using a wheelbarrow to bring them in so they hid out in the coop while we were working, but they quickly figured out that it was all good. We put the screenings down at a depth of 4-6 inches.

 

[RonP]

I know sand will eventually fill up with poop and need to be replaced.

I know deep litter eventually turns into rich compost.

I chose deep litter thinking it would be easier to dispose of if necessary.

I make a lot of rich compost, valued by some more highly than my eggs