How?!?

[Laura_tudor]

Curious as to how you all clean out your houses, the beds are easy I do wood shavings on the floor and Hay in the boxes so that's simple to clean..
But as for the run??? We all know chickens poop a LOT so how do you all keep your runs clean and how often do you clean them or tidy them up??

 

[Punkybrewster]

I dont.
Well, maybe every couple of years i rake it out.....
I throw leaves and pine needles in and they keep it churned up.

 

[Laura_tudor]

I dont.
Well, maybe every couple of years i rake it out.....
I throw leaves and pine needles in and they keep it churned up.

Where are you living, what's the climate like?
And where do you get your leaves and pine needles from x

 

[Punkybrewster]

South carolina. I get leaves and pine needles from the woods. Their run is also on a hill so it drains well.
Having a large run also helps with build up.

 

[3KillerBs]

With deep litter you never really *clean* out the run -- just harvest compost when you want it or to reduce the height of the pile if it's stacking up too high.

I used either a hay fork or a scoop shovel depending on how cohesive it was.

 

[tralfaz]

It's only been about 5 weeks but the new run shows little impact by chicken droppings. I just push out the coop bedding and spread it around the run. I don't even notice it after a few days. Those chickens are hard workers churning up mulch in the run.

 

[Mamatomany123]

We have a very large run for our 7 chickens so I dont really NEED to clean it that often. Theyve been out there for about 7 weeks and I just cleaned it for the first time the other day. I use a rake. It doesnt get everything but gets the majority. As they grow if for whatever reason it starts to smell then I will clean more often. We live within city limits and have almost double the amount of chickens we are allowed so I want to try and keep the peace as much as possible in hopes mlno one makes a fuss of them.

 

[ColoradoPip]

When I had a small enclosed run and coop, I used sand. About once per week or so, I would use a cat litter scoop to sift the poop, bedding, and anything else out to clean it. Once a year I would clean out the sand completely and replace.

I did this while living in a suburban neighborhood with neighbors very close. It never smelled (except if food got kicked out and wet for too long, a lesson only learned once!) and was super easy to maintain.

Now they are in a temp area for a few weeks which I'm hoping they fertilize the heck out of, then it's off to "free range" where the poop becomes fertilizer.

 

[aart]

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.

-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.

-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 5 years.

 

[Neggative]

unless your run is extremely small you shouldnt need to, between the chickens spinning it around and the rain it basically disolves.....