Outdoor Pen/Run Floor ideas needed

[Rick&Chris]

@Rick&Chris Are you in Upper Bucks by chance? Lapp's Landscape Products in Sellersville has a huge pile of tree trimming mulch in the back. Our son gets it there for his run, they give it to him free, but he only gets a yard or two at a time. I also use deep litter, it works great, no smell or flies. You might want to put an wire apron around the whole thing to keep digging predators out. Also put hasp locks on your doors and the nest box, to keep raccoons out. You have a nice looking coop, who built it for you, in case I know anyone up there looking for one? I know it cost a few dollars, but it looks well built and will last a long time.

I grew up in Central Bucks and moved to Upper Bucks(for 18 years) after I got married, Now we live in NC(13 years)

We are in central bucks, Warwick Township. I already have the hardware to secure the nesting boxes and all of the other openings. Just waiting for a decent day with no rain to get the work done - April maybe??

I will work on getting some sort of wood chips for the inside. Most of the grass is gone and I need to put something on there to absorb the poop!

We got the coop in central bucks, Countrytyme Sheds. Make sure they ask for Ed, he was great!

 

[Rick&Chris]

I’ve had great success with various sizes of pine bark mulch. I also have a dust bath filled with peat moss, so when the shake it also mixes with the mulch.

I tried to keep the dust bath (Sand and peat moss) in the pen area, but it was getting wet, even in the area under the coop and next to the outside sheeting for protection. I put it back inside the coop.

 

[Rick&Chris]

Rick & Chris: Your coop/run is lovely, you have lucky birds. I built ours a year and a half ago and is 10x30 overall with the coop being 10x6 and is maybe 2 ft off the ground. We foolishly thought we could keep the grass green and healthy in the run but quickly found out that the girls ate every blade of grass. Up until a few months ago our run was just hard dirt. BB uses a small plastic kitty litter scoop/sifter and a plastic 2 lb coffee can and scoops up the poop at least once per day. She has the sense of smell of a blood hound and we NEVER had odor! We have a kid's plastic swimming pool filled with woodash and peat moss for dust bathing. Girls also have at times dug a hole or two for bathing. We have recently been adding sand to fill in some depressions in the run but nothing major.

Our run is covered with corrugate plastic roofing material and when we experience heavy rain I put up plastic shower curtains that I have bought at a Dollar Tree and re-enforced corners with duct tape and added grommets. We use snap rings to quickly put them up and they are located on the windward sides of the run. So far this has worked out very well.

As far as getting under the coop, we would have to crawl under but so far we have had no need to do this. With no smell and no visual inspection I can't say if there is much poop under there or not???

So, this has worked fine for us, so far. In retrospect there is very little if anything we would do over. Hopefully your decisions will give you the same results. BBView attachment 1633432

Looks great! I think your coop might be a tad closer to the ground than mine - I think I could get underneath in an emergency, if needed. I started to use sand and PDZ under the roosts in the coop and the smell is so much less! I scoop it out every morning with a cat litter scooper. I’ll get some wood chips for the pen soon.

We also have a wood/snow block on the north side of the coop - wire tied on now but we have plans to make everything quicker and more secure if the weather around here ever breaks - or stops raining!

 

[aart]

I went to home depot looking for mulch to augment the scanty amount wood chippings I was able to get before winter.....they had open skids of colored mulches but the uncolored mulch skid was wrapped tight and way up on shelving.
But might be worth a look at your stores.
A few pine shavings and a bit of straw would help if nothing else is available, will just take more 'tending'.

 

[bajabirdbrain]

I took more pictures today so this will show you what we have done so far. Sounds like we both use a similar kitty litter scoop. One picture shows you the cheap plastic shower curtains, this is our second effort as the first set got ripped by 50+mph winds and no tape re-enforcement. I will use the clear tarps from this link when I need replacements.
https://www.tarpsplus.com/clear-poly-tarps-singles.html Also note the small piece of plastic by our dust bath, added as water dripped off the roof would bounce back into the run and get the peat moss/wood ash/sand mix damp.

Our run has many toys/perches for our girls enjoyment. This is fun, isn't it?

 

[Rick&Chris]

As I mentioned, my neighbor is landscaper - he is going to get me some wood chips. He's taking down some arborvitaes and pear trees today. Are these chips safe for the run area?

 

[Rick&Chris]

I took more pictures today so this will show you what we have done so far. Sounds like we both use a similar kitty litter scoop. One picture shows you the cheap plastic shower curtains, this is our second effort as the first set got ripped by 50+mph winds and no tape re-enforcement. I will use the clear tarps from this link when I need replacements.
https://www.tarpsplus.com/clear-poly-tarps-singles.html Also note the small piece of plastic by our dust bath, added as water dripped off the roof would bounce back into the run and get the peat moss/wood ash/sand mix damp.

Our run has many toys/perches for our girls enjoyment. This is fun, isn't it?

View attachment 1635323
View attachment 1635324 View attachment 1635327

Looks great and I'm sure your flock has lots of fun!!! I would love to do sand, but I think with all the rain we get it would just be a mess.

My landscaper neighbor has arborvitae (pine) and pine tree chips that he's going to give me. I hope they are safe for my girls!

 

[aart]

As I mentioned, my neighbor is landscaper - he is going to get me some wood chips. He's taking down some arborvitaes and pear trees today. Are these chips safe for the run area?

Should be fine...if spread out, rather than piled up, mold bloom shouldn't be an issue this time of year...and I don't think arborvitaes are too sappy.

 

[Rick&Chris]

I went to home depot looking for mulch to augment the scanty amount wood chippings I was able to get before winter.....they had open skids of colored mulches but the uncolored mulch skid was wrapped tight and way up on shelving.
But might be worth a look at your stores.
A few pine shavings and a bit of straw would help if nothing else is available, will just take more 'tending'.

@aart - so do you think that arborvitae and/or pear tree chippings would be OK? He's a great neighbor that is honestly concerned, like me, about what is safe to give them for the run area. He's taking down sycamore and maple trees later in the week ... maybe I should wait to be safe??

Also, did you have any other thoughts on the ventilation? Did you have a chance to look at the interior pics I uploaded and do you think there is sufficient ventilation for now, or should I add more?

 

[aart]

@aart - so do you think that arborvitae and/or pear tree chippings would be OK? He's a great neighbor that is honestly concerned, like me, about what is safe to give them for the run area. He's taking down sycamore and maple trees later in the week ... maybe I should wait to be safe??

Like I said....

Should be fine...if spread out, rather than piled up, mold bloom shouldn't be an issue this time of year...and I don't think arborvitaes are too sappy.

If you have a place on your land to store a pile of chippings, that would be a good thing to do...let them age and you'll always have some available to add a bit a time to the run as needed.

@aart
Also, did you have any other thoughts on the ventilation? Did you have a chance to look at the interior pics I uploaded and do you think there is sufficient ventilation for now, or should I add more?

IIRC we went over all that on another thread?
Ah, Yes.....https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ventilation-in-winter.1280282/