New Thread on Run Floor

[micstrachan]

Oh, the chicken masters that be, please impart your wisdom to me!
So I have been working gradually for months sifting out rocks and adding sand to tbe run so I can easily clean up droppings. If I don't pick up the droppings, we get a fly problem in the summer. More importantly, I don't want them walking in poop all day. Plus, I want the soil to drain well, since it can get muddy in the winter. It also means my girls can dust bathe anywhere in tbe run, pretty much. Sometimes I add rice hulls, because it dries the poop super fast, but I can still sift it. Right now the entire yard is pretty barren, but when there is lots of green (and easthworms) growing, I will occasionally throw a few shovels full of rich soil with greens in for them to play with. Usually the soil in the run is pretty dead.
I recently became aware that this "dead" run soil could be unhealthy for my flock. My intent is to prevent harboring harmful bacteria. But, if there is no beneficial bacteria, either, can the bad bacteria flourish?
Please share your run flooring material and method. It would also be greatly appreciated if you would share your rationale. If it's based on science and/or experience, even better. I really feel sort of torn and lost about it at the moment. I want my flock to have a healthy life. I don't want to make some stupid mistake thinking I'm doing the right thing when, in fact, I'm doing the opposite.
Thank you!

 

[Dayrel]

Good timing on this post. I'm currently using a chicken tractor, so my girls have had fresh grass/greenery for their run. But I'm thinking of parking the tractor for the winter and was wondering how best to handle the run floor.

 

[RonP]

How large is your run?
What are your thoughts on using a deep litter method?

 

[micstrachan]

My original run (for my original four birds) was 10x16, but part of that is taken up by a brick "porch" and landing so I can walk in there and stay relatively clean in winter. I also now keep a mini store bought coop/pen for when I need to isolate a sick or injured hen, which takes up floor space, too (though it's usually open and sometimes they prefer those nesting boxes.. go figure.) Once I got six more chickens, I added an adjacent pen that is about 8x12. It's connected with a gate that is almost always kept open so they can use both sides. I kept the littles separated on that side during integration, too.
I'm open to the deep litter method, but worry about mold and/or bacteria issues. It can get a bit muddy. I live in California where it is pretty mild, but we had record-breaking rains last year. Wet plus warm can mean perfect growth conditions for mold, etc. Currently the pens are only covered in poultry netting/chicken wire. I'd like to add some roofing at some point, even if it's just that corrugated fiberglass stuff, so they can stay out all day even in heavy rain. They like to run around in the rain during freerange time, as long as it's not pouring, so I think they would prefer to be out in the pen than the coop.

 

[micstrachan]

I still would like advice on my run floor. The pic sith the red mini coop, which I use for isolation and/or integration is in the original pen. The other run is the addition. They are joined and the gate between them stays open. The second run is pretty bare bones (just two roosting brances, a low one and a high one) since the first one has so much stuff in it. Currently the flooring is native soil mixed with construction sand and rice hulls. It gets muddy in heavy rain. Might add roofing this year. Should I be using material thst isn't so dead in the run?

 

[aart]

'Dead' is an odd word to use.
I use dead and dried plant matter to 'eat' up the chicken poops. It's chemistry...the 'browns' and 'greens' of composting. Get it deep enough and other micro and macro organisms will move in to help out.

They way to keep 'bad' organisms from flourishing it to use a mix of size, shapes, and materials that form air pockets.

I have a large walk in run and never 'clean' poops from the run,
and there is rarely any nasty odors. The bedding of a good mix of dry plant materials use facilitates this nicely, it's basically no maintenance other than adding more material from time to time. I was able to start with a big load of tree trimmings from the power company that had been aged(6 months) so I avoided the toxic molds that can bloom with fresh chippings. I collect dry leaves in the fall (stored in feed bags in a shed) and add them occasionally, and other garden trimmings. I let my grass grow tall, mow and spread it out with discharge pattern, leave it to dry a few day, then push it into rows with the mower discharge, rake it up and add to run.

After adding some dried grass...'hay' day.

 

[micstrachan]

Oohhh!!! This is really helpful! Thank you!
You're right;"dead" implies it was alive at one point. Maybe "inorganic" or "lifeless" would be more fitting.
Hubby filled our yard with dirt from a job site, so there isn't much actual dead material to add to the run. I do add rice hulls, and once rainy season comes, I do plan to throw lots of seed so we have greenery to mow again. With fall here, I should have leaves to add soon, too. Thinking maybe I should try NOT picking up droppings and keep adding more browns... and greens?
Great point about drying the mowing discharge first. Last year I put in a bunch fresh and the girls were thrilled! But it was stinky a few days later and I had to pull it back out.
As far as various sizes of matetial to make air pockets, that makes perfect sense. Will definitely keep that in mind moving forward.
As a side note, I enclosed a little "sunroom" on the south facing side, under part of the coop and added an access door. In the dead of winter, this will be a nice spot to get a little direct sunlight in the morning, since most of their run is on the north side of the coop. The floor of the little "sunroom" is brick placed on native soil. I added a little sand and a generous layer of rice hulls. Girls are trying it out and love it! Also added about 13 feet of space.

 

[micstrachan]

Weird. The photos didn't load. Here's a second attempt...

 

[aart]

Thinking maybe I should try NOT picking up droppings and keep adding more browns... and greens?

Just add 'browns'.....poops are enough 'greens'.

 

[micstrachan]

@aart I forgot to mention... that's a gorgeous rooster!