Mulch in the coop

[aim0620]

The coop will be finished this weekend and we are picking up our little gals on saturday. I've been doing some gardening in the front yard and have some old red cedar mulch, not much, just a small flower bed. The bottom of the coop, the run, has nothing on it right now so my plan was to take dirt/sand from the front and transplant to the ground. My question is, can I use the old mulch under the dirt/sand just to build it up a bit? I can't imagine it would hurt but maybe I'm wrong. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! A lot will depend on your weather/climate and how much rain you get etc if you'll be happier with or without it, you might want to ask on the Run Design forum and your state thread to see what people in your area do https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance and https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread

 

[aim0620]

thanks. It was such a small amount and I had to cover the ground in the run part which is probably 4x6 and I needed to cover about 6 inches or so. So I layered it, mulch first then the dirt on top. We're in NJ and it has been a bit rainy (sorry I should have put our location in there). Any other coop tips would be greatly appreciated since we are newbies (don't even have our hens yet, lol). Also, would you all suggest putting feed in the coop or just the run? We ran a trough outside and I'm going to put water in and out. This site is amazing!!

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC - good luck once you get your chickens.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

I am not sure about using mulch as it is going to hold a lot of moisture. I use sand in my coop and run. Very easy to clean, stays dry, no flies, no smells, you can hose it down in the summer to keep the birds cool and the chickens love to bathe in it. Here is a nice thread on sand if you need more info....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/444759/got-sand-you-should

As for food in the coop, if they are primarily outside in the run, then leave the food and water outside. Depending on your set up, chickens usually don't like to go back into the coop for food or water. And they don't eat or drink at night. So you might want to leave it outside. I would pick it all up at night however so you are not attracting things of the night.

Great to have you aboard and welcome to our flock!

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[aim0620]

thank you so much! Ok, so I'm going to cover the dirt I put in there with sand. I recently read that it should be washed construction sand. And with Clayton block right down the street I'm going to start with that. I didn't know they don't eat or drink at night so I'll just keep that all out in the run. Seems it would make clean up easier too. Trying to keep our costs low as it would defeat the purpose of having them for eggs if we were putting out a ton of money. So far we have repurposed our swing set and have only had to pay for roofing. This weekend we will have to put out since we decided to buy adolescent chickens and we need food too.

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us!

 

[ronmauldin]

Welcome from the Ocean State!

 

[Cuccismith]

Hi! I'm in New Jersey too- near Ocean city. My chickens love hanging out in our gardens filled with mulch... love to rest there. I too thought about putting mulch in the bottom of their run. But thinking Sand will be better. However the sand can get quite hot with the sun blaring down... I may do a mix. My chickens are free range most of the day so the run stays rather clean. Welcome and I hope you have a wonderful chicken experience!