How to keep ground “clean” and safe + other advice for new chicken mama ❤️

[bumblychicken]

Hi everyone, my chicken run is approximately 22-25ft long and 14 or so feet wide

The ground is just the grass and dirt we built it on

Are there others who just use the dirt and grass and will the poop just decompose?

I know sand is an option but it isn’t for me right at this moment

Is it alright to keep it natural like this if they aren’t free ranging?

I have 9 in total and they are almost 10 weeks old and have been outside for almost 2 weeks so far

Thank you and if you have any other advice for a new chicken mom please feel free to share!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They will eventually dig up all the grass. Until than it's fine. After that it all depends on drainage of the soil. I would switch to a deep litter run when all the grass is gone. We just put grass clippings, fall leaves, pulled weeds, hay, and occasionally shavings. The chickens will turn it, and should keep it mostly clean as long as the area is big enough for the amount of birds on it. Sand is best for covered runs.

 

[rosemarythyme]

As oldhenlikesdogs mentioned they'll destroy the grass in a matter of months, and then you'll likely need some form of litter to help manage the poop. If there's any drainage issues at the run location I'd address it now. I see you have some trees there so if you have room for a chip pile from a tree service I'd also recommend having a load delivered to you at this time so it's ready for use when the run gets stripped bare, as aged wood chips are the ideal base for a deep litter set up, allowing aeration and on site drainage and controlling mud as the poop composts down with other organic matter.

Not sure if that's a photo of run-in-progress or a finished run but you'll want to cover the corners of the apron as well (it ends at cinder blocks in the photo) and also tighten up and cut off the excess netting overhead as that's a tangling hazard.