Keeping run dry

[djsgardens]

We are new at this, but are hoping to use six inch lawn edging on two sides running through the middle of our chicken run and then filling in between them with pea gravel to make a walkway for us and our wheelbarrow/wagon. Maybe that is naïve.

 

[lynnehd]

We are new at this, but are hoping to use six inch lawn edging on two sides running through the middle of our chicken run and then filling in between them with pea gravel to make a walkway for us and our wheelbarrow/wagon. Maybe that is naïve.

There's nothing wrong with gravel , it's great for drainage.
It's just that chickens love to scratch, and when they do this, they fling stuff around, several feet in every direction.
So I'm betting your pathway will get sort of lost.
But it might be worth giving it a go!

I will say that it is very easy to move my wheelbarrow around over the wood chips/leaves.

 

[djsgardens]

I'm not sure if I'm understanding 'walkway', because chickens make a mess of everything; it's all mixed up.

I've been very pleased with wood chips/leaves and pine needles in my open run (uncovered except for netting). I've got at least 4" in there. Poops get buried. Water drains through, so no mud.
I've kept a pile of wood chips and some bags of leaves, and have been supplementing through the winter.

Lots of bugs under there!

Here's a way to get free wood chips. Not sure if it is active in Newberg, but you might check in to it. 
https://www.chipdrop.in/

Thanks for that link. Do you have any idea if there is a way to specify no Cedar chips? That would be bad, right?

 

[lynnehd]

Thanks for that link. Do you have any idea if there is a way to specify no Cedar chips? That would be bad, right?

I suspect not. I think it is sort of 'take what you get', because it's free.

However, two things: 1) I don't think that there are many cedar trees being taken down; mainly Douglas fir and odds and ends trimmings in our geographic area. An arborist would have a better idea, of course.
2) you certainly don't want to use cedar shavings in the nest box or coop. But as wood chips on the ground in an open area, mixed with leaves and other kinds of wood chips, I'm not sure it would be too much of an issue, anyway.

Those are just some thoughts. You might poke around on the web site to see if you can learn more.

(Before I knew about 'chipdrop', I bought my first pile of chippings from a landscape supply place; they were designed to line pathways in gardens and they said they were mainly fir).