Human walking path

[aart]

It seems as though I need to put down a variety of different mulches: wood chips, straw, pine needles, leaves, etc. My question for this is: what should I use?

All of them! A good mix of sizes, shapes, and materials is best. Some stuff will break down faster than others and can be replenished as necessary. When that needs to happens is matter of learning what materials works best for your location. There's no exact 'recipe'.

Now I'm thinking it doesn't make sense at all to have a gravel path in the run for me. It will just end up being half covered in leaves, wood chips, etc anyway. Thoughts?

Exactly!..and the gravel will get scratched out of the path. You still have to watch for fresh poops tho.

Oh, and, Welcome to BYC!

 

[jthornton]

The only thing chickens won't scratch out is pavers.

I throw a bunch of dry leaves and some straw in my chicken yard. They love scratching in it and it keeps me from getting mud on my shoes in some parts. Nothing can keep poop off your shoes I've found out.

JT

 

[pennyJo1960]

I now have 12 x 12 walking stones BF did them yesterday after 4 years a slogging and falling

 

[llombardo]

So I just started building the run today and I was wondering about the ground cover. I have a small pile of dirt that I'm incorpirsting into the run for them. Right now it's grass. Should I stay ahead of the game and add mulch, pine cones(I have plenty of these-4 trees produce them) I also have dried leaves from last year, some sand and a fire pit with ash. Can I use the same stuff on the ducks side of the run?

 

[blackdog043]

Nothing can keep poop off your shoes I've found out.

That's why I wear these boots for the coop chores and and most of my outdoor work. Super comfortable and slip on and off.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So I just started building the run today and I was wondering about the ground cover. I have a small pile of dirt that I'm incorpirsting into the run for them. Right now it's grass. Should I stay ahead of the game and add mulch, pine cones(I have plenty of these-4 trees produce them) I also have dried leaves from last year, some sand and a fire pit with ash. Can I use the same stuff on the ducks side of the run?

I would actually let the chickens eat up/tear up the grass first, since they'll enjoy that. Once the grass is gone I would add the litter. The ash can go into their dust bath, if you have one (if not, just dump it where you see them dust bathing). I don't have ducks so not sure if the same materials are ideal for ducks.