I HATE sand, now what do I do? (Help me with my run flooring)

[goldfishes]

I used barnlime in the past before I put a roof on to help the smell of the run after a bad storm. Could that be used in the deep litter method as well? It was drying out by the evening time and the smell is better already. I'll turn it tomorrow if it isn't thoroughly dry. How much material do you add at a time? Just a small amount or enough to cover a layer of the whole run?

That is really cool that your run was able to dry out after all that water!

Edit (I really need to refresh before replying...):

• Roseyred- Thanks for the ideas on predators, but I can't do that due to most of the predators being protected wildlife and the fact we live in the city. It is illegal to shoot anything because of how close we are to other dwellings. Plus, I never plan to kill anything unless I had to. I'm the type that feels bad for killing bugs.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

In the converted dog run I have at the moment, I am using paving stones covered in dirt. I am planning on dropping some hay in there and raking it out for a clean up. I let my girls free range when I am there. I have to make sure the Tom Cat is away and the hawk doesn't try to come by again. So, I have to let them free range while I keep an eye on them.

The coop I am currently building has a concrete slab. I am going to cover that with hay from the start. Rake it out, no fuss, no muss, no bumpy paving stones.

As far as a run, I let my 6 EE's dig, scratch, eat grass, and bugs free ranging in the large fenced yard whenever I can watch over them.

The coop that I am constructing, the run is going to be all grass about 15 yards of run, attached to the coop. I am hoping it will be a good long time before they can tear up their run. Then again, I am planning it for 20 hens, so time will tell.

 

[goldfishes]

These hawks that are visiting right now (I think they are migrating) are evil, I don't trust them even with me outside. Good luck with the grass in the run! The chickens were only 8 weeks old when I put them in their run and the grass was gone in two days! I would have never imagined 6 little chicks could do so much damage so quickly.

 

[mattsanity]

I use Deep Litter in my coop and I'd never really thought to do it in the run also. My run is covered but there are stray drips and blown in snow from time to time and it can tend to get mucky with the freeze/thaw cycles. Would I be better off trying wood shavings or straw in the run for DLM? I do shavings in the coop but it seems like it'd take a lot of them for the run. As far as straw, would that be inviting parasites into the run or do the beneficial microbes take care of that? Straw seems like it'd go a lot further and I'm all for the girls having clean feet while making less work for myself.

 

[goldfishes]

Since I've used straw in the past and it gets really wet here despite a covered run in a few corners because of horizontal rain and low spots I need to fix, I've started out with pine shavings. It's going on 3 weeks and I put in 3 bags to start from TSC. I did pick out the bark and larger pieces that weren't shaved to be cautious. Right after doing this, it poured and apparently flooded the area. I did get a bit of water in the run. I fluffed it up with a rake and it seems it has dried out since. I did have a bunch of straw last year and when it would rain like this, it would get really wet and not dry out. What I am thinking is doing a blend of the two. I'm starting out with the shavings and once I get a few inches down (right now it's about 1", I plan to also to add some straw as the girls love it. I figured that way, the pine shavings will help absorb the occasional water and the straw will be great for boredom.

As far as your questions about pests, I am not sure as I am new to the DLM. I can say that I've noticed if you by from a reputable source to begin with, you'll have less troubles to begin with. Perhaps some of those that commented before will comment again. They were really helpful. If not, I'm sure they wouldn't mind a PM. They seem very helpful and friendly from all the lurking I've done this past year.

I'm pleased to say that the shavings are really helping with the smell and seems to be a hit. As in, there is none unless they are going to the bathroom while I'm out there. I've been throwing out a handful of veggies, scratch or meal worms daily to encourage the girls to turn the litter. I've noticed they are more active now as well! That is awesome because of the weather, they have been mostly perching on the side of the dust bin. Yesterday, I caught the girls outside of their dust bin rolling around in the pine shavings. It was adorable.

I'll update for a while every week or so for those that may be interested in what I think of this method. So far, my injured back is thanking everyone.

 

[CrazyTalk]

As for predators get yourself a cross bow. You can find a tactical one for like$30 or a bebe gun. The cross bow for the big animals and birds and the bee bees for the cats. Another thing is trapping the animals then...I know this sounds mean....spraying them with a bottle of human urine. My neighbors cats kept climbing in our run and eating eggs so one day I trapped one in the run and had my boyfriend pee in a bottle and poked a hole in the lid then sprayed it till it was soaked. Never came back. They communicate with urine marking there territories. That's why people pee around plants to deter deer. Try it. As for the sand...maybe let them outa the coop one day and mix a whole bag of lime with the sand. It'll dry it out and get rid of the smell and then you can scoop it out and dispose o it without all the extra wet weight.

Nobody should be buying a BB gun with the intent of firing it at animals. If you're going to shoot something, you need a weapon with enough power to reliably kill it quickly. With BBs you're most likely going to end up with animals dying of infection.

 

[CliffB]

Nobody should be buying a BB gun with the intent of firing it at animals. If you're going to shoot something, you need a weapon with enough power to reliably kill it quickly. With BBs you're most likely going to end up with animals dying of infection.

Typically with domestic cats you don't fire a bb gun at it to kill it efficiently you fire it in order to get it's attention and motivate it to leave. A childs bb gun does not carry enough energy to puncture skin. Now if you are talking an adult air rifle you may want to google videos of just how effective a 1200 fps air rifle is when it comes to small mammals. There are 22 caliber pellets that are being used for hog hunting.

 

[Blooie]

Typically with domestic cats you don't fire a bb gun at it to kill it efficiently you fire it in order to get it's attention and motivate it to leave. A childs bb gun does not carry enough energy to puncture skin. Now if you are talking an adult air rifle you may want to google videos of just how effective a 1200 fps air rifle is when it comes to small mammals. There are 22 caliber pellets that are being used for hog hunting.

Don't mean to step on anyone's toes, but I wish somebody would tell that to my left calf muscle. There's been a bb from a child's bb gun in there since I was 19 years old, and I'm 64 now.

 

[CliffB]

If someone shot your calf from 30-40+ yards away with a 400-500 fps air rifle and it penetrated skin then that's a rare occasion.

 

[RonP]

Ouch!