INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[SallyinIndiana]

ill asked my dad to get sand or can we put rocks down? like pebble rocks

her is an article about mud in the run. It is good. There are most likely many more articles but this is a recent one I saw on the home page so the link was easy to find.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-fix-a-muddy-run-chicken-coop

 

[Leahs Mom]

So does anyone here clean the chickens run? Some of their bedding had fallen down into the grass do I need to clean it or will it be fine?

RE mud in the run...

I have a dog kennel run that is attached to the hen house. I keep this for when they need to be enclosed but also let them out to free-range most of the time.

When I got my first 6 chickens, that dog kennel run was full of grass. But, of course, in a small area the chickens will take out the grass pretty much right away and what you're left with can become an impacted, unhealthy situation.

However - deep litter can be very healthy over a dirt floor or run as well so after the grass was on the way out, I began using the deep litter principle out on that run.

I had a couple of trees that were taken down and I had the landscapers chip all the branches and leave me a big pile. They had been there about 8 months and were beginning to cure - but very little. They were already full of worms and the kiddos loved it if they could get on that pile and get all the bugs and worms. I began hauling wheelbarrows full of those chips over into the dog kennel run.

In addition to those chips, when I clean the deep litter out of the hen house, I put a good amount of that right outside into the dog run to continue building up the deep litter there. You can also put fall leaves you've raked in there, etc.

The goal of this is to build a litter deep enough that it can keep the ground below warm enough that they may still be able to scratch in it and find bugs - even in the winter. The soil underneith does not become impacted as the deep litter actually feeds what's below like compost (think of a forest floor) and as it breaks down, it makes great soil and living environment for bugs, worms, etc. that the chickens will love to scratch down to find.

As they scratch, they aerate it and the cycle continues. The poo breaks down and gets stirred in, feeds the soil and bugs, they break it down and create healthy soil and on and on it goes.

If I didn't build deep litter there, I'd have a hard impacted, dead, unhealthy, muccy/muddy environment that can easily spread disease.

THIS IS SO EASY TO DO with what you already have - and is very healthy for your kiddos!

You can even contact tree services in your area - many of them will bring you as many wood chips as you'd like free. You tell them where to dump them and they do. When I use those kinds of chips I have them put it in a hill and let them sit for awhile before using them in the run so they're not green - especially if it is pine - so that the resin can break down some. When I see worms and bug activity starting in that pile, I know it will be safe to put in the run.


This is that pile of wood chips: (I had put the fence over there so they could dig for worms)






This is when I started putting piles of chips in the dog kennel run: There were live worms in there and they went to down spreading the chips around for me



This is inside the dog kennel run. Notice the deep litter there. Most of what you see there was just thrown out from inside the hen house when it got too deep. You can use the litter from inside, wood chips, leaves, grass you rake from mowing the lawn, etc.



You can think of this as DEEP MULCH...

 

[vickichicki]

Our three and four week old chicks. Five Swedish flower hens, black ameracaunas and blue ameracaunas.

Wow you have a beautiful flock. The blues are truly stunning.

 

[vickichicki]

I am bumping my post because I really need you guys!! I know irritating huh, lol. I Just commited to a pair of SQ silkies I am picking up sunday, I am trading my blue cochin cockerel for them. I am kinda at a loss right now with my cockerels and I could really use some advice from you all. I think I may be BYC codependent.

Really wish I could help out but I am currently maxed out on chickens. Hope you can find them somewhere soon.

 

[ShawnaScott]

I am bumping my post because I really need you guys!! I know irritating huh, lol. I Just commited to a pair of SQ silkies I am picking up sunday, I am trading my blue cochin cockerel for them. I am kinda at a loss right now with my cockerels and I could really use some advice from you all. I think I may be BYC codependent.

When did you want to have new homes for them? I have an excess of hens, but they are still only about 3 to 5 weeks old yet. I could trade you a couple hens for a couple roos

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Leah's mom
when the tree trimming people bring the chips by, is their truck super heavy tpically? like a cement truck is always heavy, I did not know if a tree trimming chip collector truck is also heavy.

 

[EmSteele]

Hi. My name is Em and I'm a chick-a-holic.
Orchelins trip to get rabbit feed ...and brought home 5 pan fry that REALLY looked like they didn't belong there. Holding at 30...I SWEAR I'm done now!...unless one of my hens refuses to go broody when they start laying! I NEED a broody hen eventually, right?!?!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Leah's mom
when the tree trimming people bring the chips by, is their truck super heavy tpically? like a cement truck is always heavy, I did not know if a tree trimming chip collector truck is also heavy.

It depends on the particular company. You can call a few and find out what they would drive. The one I had worked with had one of the really large ones. But I've seen others that weren't so big.

 

[oldrooster]

Hi. My name is Em and I'm a chick-a-holic.
Orchelins trip to get rabbit feed ...and brought home 5 pan fry that REALLY looked like they didn't belong there. Holding at 30...I SWEAR I'm done now!...unless one of my hens refuses to go broody when they start laying! I NEED a broody hen eventually, right?!?!

in a choris with other addicts in group suport style hello em....

 

[AATH]

When did you want to have new homes for them? I have an excess of hens, but they are still only about 3 to 5 weeks old yet. I could trade you a couple hens for a couple roos

What kind of hens do you have? I'm looking for one more but I want it to be a pretty breed. Ie Swedish flower hen, sebright, laced wynadotte, etc.