Outdoor Run..."Bedding"?

[MiaS]

My chicks are the same age as yours. Our run was built on top of a vegetable garden. We dug out some soil and added sand. We have a heavy clay soil and I thought we could use the sand/dirt mixture in other gardens or around the berry bushes when we cleaned the run. I think we could be wrong. The chicks have the ground so compacted down that it seems like concrete. They constantly dig around the perimeter leaving ditches that we fill in daily with more dirt or sand. The soil is definitely not the light loamy soil we were hoping for. Hopefully someone will chime in and give some recommendations. I also have pine needles and was thinking of adding some peat moss. I am already overloaded with shavings from the other animals and the coop. I am hoping to get a good mixture of compost for the gardens once a week or so, but the ground is so hard that I can't even rake it even anymore.

Unfortunately sand is not a good solution for clay soils. As you've noticed basically sand + clay = concrete. Organic material will be your friend

 

[Haleyrbloom]

Humm. Rice Hulls. That is new to me as I had never heard of them.

I live the rice hulls. They dry quickly, if they get wet. They also stay on top, while poo and other stuff goes to bottom.

The chickens LOVE going through fresh rice hulls, looking for any rice left behind.

It is also compostable. Pretty easy to clean.

 

[Newyorkrita]

I live the rice hulls. They dry quickly, if they get wet. They also stay on top, while poo and other stuff goes to bottom.

The chickens LOVE going through fresh rice hulls, looking for any rice left behind.

It is also compostable. Pretty easy to clean.

Sounds about perfect. Proves one is never to old to learn a better method as I am 72 already.

 

[Dishens]

I live the rice hulls. They dry quickly, if they get wet. They also stay on top, while poo and other stuff goes to bottom.

The chickens LOVE going through fresh rice hulls, looking for any rice left behind.

It is also compostable. Pretty easy to clean.

Where do you use them? In the coop or run? Do you mix with anything else?

 

[pintail_drake2004]

I like to use pine straw in my run, and prefer to use it when possible. I also add the deep litter from the coop every 6 months, and I rake 4-5 wheelbarrow loads of grass clippings every 10 days. When I mow hay, they get a load of it too, and all the leaves I rake in the fall.

 

[Newyorkrita]

I like to use pine straw in my run, and prefer to use it when possible. I also add the deep litter from the coop every 6 months, and I rake 4-5 wheelbarrow loads of grass clippings every 10 days. When I mow hay, they get a load of it too, and all the leaves I rake in the fall.

Pine straw is great stuff but hard to find locally around here.

 

[Newyorkrita]

I like to use pine straw in my run, and prefer to use it when possible. I also add the deep litter from the coop every 6 months, and I rake 4-5 wheelbarrow loads of grass clippings every 10 days. When I mow hay, they get a load of it too, and all the leaves I rake in the fall.

Pine straw is great stuff but hard to find locally around here.

 

[Newyorkrita]

Don't know why my last post shows multiple times!! Sorry!!

 

[Haleyrbloom]

Where do you use them? In the coop or run? Do you mix with anything else?

I use sand in the coop and rice hulls in the run.

It rained so much where I live this year. The rice hulls don’t mold and dry quickly. When kicked around the rice hulls stay on top, so poop, etc goes to bottom.

I use pavers on top of hardware cloth, as my foundation. Keeps them pretty dry.

Love the stuff. I have an-Jan feed order it for me. 50lbs for $12. One bag will fill my 12 ft run about 4 inches deep. I use soil, too.

Rice hulls can be slippery, so not recommended in an area using linoleum for flooring.

 

[Chickenbrainiac]

I would suggest wood chippings in the run, laid down to a depth of about 3-4inches on top of clean, raked ground. Deep enough to allow rain to drain straight through, anyway.

If you can completely cover at least part of the run with corrugated plastic or something, even a tarpaulin when it's really rough and raining, it's great for the birds to have a bit of total weather-proofing.

We use wood shavings in the nestboxes too and have not had a problem there; some people use shredded newspaper.