I'm not a farmer-I just play one on TV, so I need help

[Oliver Wendall Douglass]

We have a nice coup in our backyard (Looks like a barn...) and a nice fenced-in area for our 4 chickens to roam. Looking for a nice bedding to put on the ground--something efficient and looks good. Was thinking hay, but we live in FL, so get a lot of rain and that seems to rule that out.
Any suggestions? Large pebbles, pine chips, mulch?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

We have a nice coup in our backyard (Looks like a barn...) and a nice fenced-in area for our 4 chickens to roam. Looking for a nice bedding to put on the ground--something efficient and looks good. Was thinking hay, but we live in FL, so get a lot of rain and that seems to rule that out.
Any suggestions? Large pebbles, pine chips, mulch?

Also in FL - not sure what part you are in, but I grew up along at either end of the I-4 corridor, and now have a homestead up in the panhandle, averaging 59" rainfall yearly.

I use leaf litter. In a "deep litter" method. The volume and irregular shape helps keep their feet out of the mud and water (I have Brahma, feathered feet, its a frostbite concern the seven days out of the year it gets cool around here), as it breaks down it composts (being more "brown" than "green" is a cold compost method, relatively slow) with the chicken waste and neutralizes most all of the smell (I'm told, my own sense of smell "isn't good" for reasons that don't matter here).

Has the benefit of being cheap - only costs my labor, I have acreage.

If you are in a more urban area, you can likely get "mulch" from tree trimming operations, etc at similar pricing. Or look into "chip drop". I'm not fond of green mulch, actually, but its hard to beat the price. I'd just store it somewhere to age first for a time. Have had mildew issues with it (once), back in Tampa, when it was simply too wet.

/edit With respect to the above poster, I disagree. Sandy clay soils here - tried pebbles under my watering cups for a time, filled (quickly) with chicken and duck droppings, became hard like concrete. When, when it got wet, smelled like an open sewer, even to me. If you can keep it dry, sand works for some, who then rake out the droppings periodically, like a cat litter box - but in a run, that's a lot of work, and the more droppings it collects, the less it drains. Most of FL already has a water table between 3' and 10' in depth, there just isn't that much room for water to "go" when we get a heavy rainfall. Standing water after a few moments of damp is the nature of our state.

 

[black_cat]

I have a mix of soil, sand, leaf litter, mulch, wood chips, straw- most everything, and I mix it around if it gets smelly or packed down.

 

[3KillerBs]

I like pine straw in my run.

It isn't as absorbent as some other materials but it has a number of advantages:

• It doesn't pack down readily so you don't form anaerobic pockets.
• It dries out on top rapidly after even the heaviest rains.
• It doesn't break down as fast as straw and some other options.
• It smells nice on it's own.
• It's free for the raking on my property (and inexpensive to purchase in most of the southeastern US (people may pay you to rake it out of their yards)).

I'm not a fan of sand as bedding/litter because it requires intensive maintenance to keep poop from crusting on the surface and doesn't compost so all the fine particles of poop just get down into it and stay there -- rotting and reeking when it gets wet.

 

[3KillerBs]

for the actual run, you could get away with mulch

As long as it's not dyed mulch -- because there's no guarantee that the dyes are non-toxic.

Plain coarse wood chips are better, but can be hard to source if you need them in less than dumptruck sized loads (some towns have piles that residents can take them from).

 

[Aunt Tat]

We have a nice coup in our backyard (Looks like a barn...) and a nice fenced-in area for our 4 chickens to roam. Looking for a nice bedding to put on the ground--something efficient and looks good. Was thinking hay, but we live in FL, so get a lot of rain and that seems to rule that out.
Any suggestions? Large pebbles, pine chips, mulch?

Chickens love mulch!
Not too sure about the pebbles though
Sand might work for you too.

Eddie Albert grew corn, squash, and pumpkins in his front yard and gave them away. However, I'm assuming you're an E.A. fan, so you probably knew about that.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

 

[Pullet Press]

For coop bedding, I use wood shavings or straw, but for the actual run, you could get away with mulch. They'll scratch around in it (and will love to dust bathe in it). It's also pretty cheap.

 

[aart]

Well I haven't seen any mites or flies in the bedding so I'm happy

Doesn't mean the smell good stuff is keeping them away.
Make sure you check regularly for bugs.


Bug Check:
Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

 

[theoldchick]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-run-best-material-for-floor-thats-proven.135450/