Let me pose this here and see if anyone can tell me if they do something similar...
I am trying to figure out how to do a deep litter, outdoor run here in Northern California. I have completely enclosed an old pony shelter (enclosed on three sides & covered 10x12x 8ft high) for my hens plus another 15 ft by 8 ft, making their run pretty big if they have to stay in (usually they are out in my orchard). The henhouse is inside this big space, but built up four feet above ground so they go up the ladder to sleep and lay, so have the whole open "down" space to roam around in (sort of makes an "L" shape). 1/2 of this big space gets wet (or really wet after last weekend's 6 inches of rain!) as it is open to the weather.
Issues: -The floor of the "L" shaped run has shale gravel & dirt in the bottom as this is what they had for the drainage for the pony
-It is sloping downhill away from the run/coop towards the garden creating a little bit of a muddy corner. Otherwise drainage is fine, but it is wet in wet season!
-We just started rainy season, so rain off and on now through April, then NO rain for 6 months. Temp won't go much below freezing and if so, only for a couple of hours. Cold winter days will still be up to mid-forties by afternoon, and normally around 60*.
OK, so here's my idea: I put down a layer of sand to help with drainage, then DE sprinkled, then garden grade mulch 4-6 inches...then toss in my sycamore and pear tree leaves for the girls to scratch around in when they can't go out, plus the normal "chicken scraps" they get from the kitchen. Should I be able to make the hens happy, & have compost every year? I can take off half the mix the girls make every Dry season and put it in one of my compost bins for further action before turning it into the garden. I can also replace the garden-grade mulch a few times during rainy season if needed (if it gets too muddy?), and toss it in the compost pile... Wanted results: I need to give the hens something dryer than mud and muddy shale gravel in the open area of the run, and am trying to think how to let the hens make garden mulch for me!
Thoughts? Any would be greatly appreciated. Here are photos so you have a better idea...
Here is the corner that gets muddy--where the red chair is...
Here is the shelter on left and run on right
Here is the inside of the coop (back cleaning door view)--raised 4 ft up, with wire mesh on the botton so if the girls poop from the roosts it falls through or cleans through the bottom wire very easily... (Roosts are above this door height, so you are just looking in to the nexting boxes. Chicken door on the terrace on the left.)
I am trying to figure out how to do a deep litter, outdoor run here in Northern California. I have completely enclosed an old pony shelter (enclosed on three sides & covered 10x12x 8ft high) for my hens plus another 15 ft by 8 ft, making their run pretty big if they have to stay in (usually they are out in my orchard). The henhouse is inside this big space, but built up four feet above ground so they go up the ladder to sleep and lay, so have the whole open "down" space to roam around in (sort of makes an "L" shape). 1/2 of this big space gets wet (or really wet after last weekend's 6 inches of rain!) as it is open to the weather.
Issues: -The floor of the "L" shaped run has shale gravel & dirt in the bottom as this is what they had for the drainage for the pony
-It is sloping downhill away from the run/coop towards the garden creating a little bit of a muddy corner. Otherwise drainage is fine, but it is wet in wet season!
-We just started rainy season, so rain off and on now through April, then NO rain for 6 months. Temp won't go much below freezing and if so, only for a couple of hours. Cold winter days will still be up to mid-forties by afternoon, and normally around 60*.
OK, so here's my idea: I put down a layer of sand to help with drainage, then DE sprinkled, then garden grade mulch 4-6 inches...then toss in my sycamore and pear tree leaves for the girls to scratch around in when they can't go out, plus the normal "chicken scraps" they get from the kitchen. Should I be able to make the hens happy, & have compost every year? I can take off half the mix the girls make every Dry season and put it in one of my compost bins for further action before turning it into the garden. I can also replace the garden-grade mulch a few times during rainy season if needed (if it gets too muddy?), and toss it in the compost pile... Wanted results: I need to give the hens something dryer than mud and muddy shale gravel in the open area of the run, and am trying to think how to let the hens make garden mulch for me!
Thoughts? Any would be greatly appreciated. Here are photos so you have a better idea...
Here is the corner that gets muddy--where the red chair is...
Here is the shelter on left and run on right
Here is the inside of the coop (back cleaning door view)--raised 4 ft up, with wire mesh on the botton so if the girls poop from the roosts it falls through or cleans through the bottom wire very easily... (Roosts are above this door height, so you are just looking in to the nexting boxes. Chicken door on the terrace on the left.)
