New Coop has arrived!! What to put down in the run?

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aart said:
I'd spread a layer(1-2") of those chips now to age them while chicks are still in coop or brooder.

Skimming off outer surface of pile is a good suggestion..even if you see some 'mold' it doesn't mean it's toxic, so don't freak out....the worst one, aspergillus, is pretty much invisible to the naked eye.
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Thanks! The wood is Ash that the chips came from. They were chipped about a month ago. We have been shoveling and moving some of them to places in the yard. They seem pretty clean so far. Good to know too fresh could be an issue. We do have a few more weeks in the brooder to go. So could put them in the run to air out in the interim.
 
Looks really really nice. The rain has been absolutely ridiculous for the past few months. Going to let them out again tomorrow for sure.. how long until you move them to the coop ?
 
concrete_boots said:
Looks really really nice. The rain has been absolutely ridiculous for the past few months. Going to let them out again tomorrow for sure.. how long until you move them to the coop ?
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Mine are only between 2-4 weeks old now. So they've still got a few weeks to go. We also want to build PVC feeders and watering system for the run before they move in too.
 
VERY nice coop! From experience, gravel is bad. It drains for a while .. until it gets packed with poop and debris and makes a horrid mess. If the gravel is on top of the cement pad I would remove it and just use the wood chips. Get enough of a layer in there for them to dig in and they will be amused. As for "No free ranging" .. Bah .. Open to interpretation. If you put in a few stakes 20 feet out around your coop .. (or further) and run 5 foot high lightweight chicken wire around the perimeter and let them out to play in the grass to look for bugs, they are not free ranging. Likewise if your yard is fenced off. The free range rule is so that they are not going into/onto your neighbors property. As long as you prevent that, you can give them as much space as you please to wander around.
 
The PVC feeders I built look like this and they are fantastic.
iu
 
Sea Wolf said:
VERY nice coop! From experience, gravel is bad. It drains for a while .. until it gets packed with poop and debris and makes a horrid mess. If the gravel is on top of the cement pad I would remove it and just use the wood chips. Get enough of a layer in there for them to dig in and they will be amused. As for "No free ranging" .. Bah .. Open to interpretation. If you put in a few stakes 20 feet out around your coop .. (or further) and run 5 foot high lightweight chicken wire around the perimeter and let them out to play in the grass to look for bugs, they are not free ranging. Likewise if your yard is fenced off. The free range rule is so that they are not going into/onto your neighbors property. As long as you prevent that, you can give them as much space as you please to wander around.
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Thanks! The pad is all gravel. No cement pad underneath. I totally understand the open to interpretation on free ranging. However, we work full time and predators are definitely a big concern. So we may let them out on weekends when we're in the yard to help keep them safe, but they will spend most of their time in the run.
 

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