Partially covered run— best litter method

[SunHwaKwon]

Every time I’ve used hay anywhere It is probably the grossest thing I’ve ever dealt with when it gets wet. That’s why I like the straw I use. It doesn’t absorb water like hay and it dries quickly. I just can never get material to dry out which is why I use a thin layer and that is all. I think I personally would stick with straw because it seems like a lot of money to go haul stone and compacted in the run which I’m not even sure other than lots of wheelbarrows How I would get it all back there. I’m not even sure that would work for me considering it is the lowest area of my yard. I never had too much of a issue with it staying wet and told him I tried the deep litter.The straw

works great for me and breaks down for my compost pile. But that’s what I meant before depending on your situation , Size, location and whether really would Really determine what works best for you. Really I think it’s a trial and error process before someone finds what works best for them

Interesting. My experience with hay v straw was the exact opposite! Maybe it depend on the type of grasses used. My hay fluffs back up but the straw stayed matted and wet so the poop couldn't mix in - it just sat on top.

No need for hauling anything- if you want to add anything just do it a bit at a time. Deep litter is a gradual process.

Have you considered a French drain?

 

[Coop de Grass]

Following county mowers it took just a couple days to get the materials. Lol you should have seen the looks we got like we were crazy but I have no shame lol!!

I admire your resourcefulness! But I wonder about the car emissions and if there is any research done on if they affect the roadside vegetation. Where we are, even on the verges of "rural" areas, there is a lot, A LOT, of traffic. Does anyone have info on this???

 

[Coop de Grass]

Interesting. My experience with hay v straw was the exact opposite! Maybe it depend on the type of grasses used. My hay fluffs back up but the straw stayed matted and wet so the poop couldn't mix in - it just sat on top.

No need for hauling anything- if you want to add anything just do it a bit at a time. Deep litter is a gradual process.

Have you considered a French drain?

Straw in the run was a disaster for me because the hens consumed it and had both impacted and sour crops. I am going to try the leaves, sticks, and weed, hopefully with grass thrown in.

A french drain is an interesting thought. We had one on our house, but it is attached to two sump pumps. WE have a high and constantly moving water table, and the coop and run are lower than the house. The soil is solid clay- we should have a pottery business. I've amended the soil in the former garden, and several years have had straw bale gardens. I was thinking of installing a drain like the one we just put in out driveway so that the water is directed away from the run. May even put gutters on the roofed area of the run... My hens are laying golden eggs...

 

[lazy gardener]

No matter what you use to cover the floor of your run, you must start with a decent area, with good drainage. If your coop/run sit at the lowest part of your property, that area will collect the drainage. Livestock must be kept in an area that has good drainage, or they are going to be prone to disease. Some measures can be undertaken to improve a substandard area; drainage ditches, put down a layer of pea stone, and gravel, and build your run on top of that.

My current run is not a dry as the previous run was. But, I can tell you that without the DL, the current run would be much more prone to drainage issues.

 

[Crow-ded house]

I admire your resourcefulness! But I wonder about the car emissions and if there is any research done on if they affect the roadside vegetation. Where we are, even on the verges of "rural" areas, there is a lot, A LOT, of traffic. Does anyone have info on this???

In our area it is very rural. We used roads that are rarely driven on. At least the county mowers had stories to tell about their day lol

 

[lazy gardener]

Oklahoma gets monsoon rain, extreme wind heat and ice. So far this has been best option for our unusually wet year. Have not tested it thru ice yet.

I have turned a corner of the run into a winter sun room for the birds: 3 sides covered with clear plastic, green house tarp over 1/2 of the roof. While the ground does freeze in there, the birds spend a good part of every day rummaging through the piles of leaves I put there. The ground in the sun room is frozen perhaps 3 months instead of the usual 6 months.

May be a dumb question but i newbie. I know this is chicken thred but i have ducks and just discovered the DL method and was going to try it in our ducks run. Do you think the same as what your described should be good for ducks to??

Yes, your ducks would love it. However, if you give them a pool, or option to do their usual sloppiness with their water, you may end up with an anaerobic condition. I think that I would put their wading pool out on the lawn, and put their water on a built up platform with hdw. cloth, and a plastic liner, with a drainage pipe to prevent them from turning the DL into a mud pit.

I admire your resourcefulness! But I wonder about the car emissions and if there is any research done on if they affect the roadside vegetation. Where we are, even on the verges of "rural" areas, there is a lot, A LOT, of traffic. Does anyone have info on this???

Agreed. I would not be comfortable using bedding collected from the sides of busy roads. Nor would I be willing to use bedding collected from public parks or golf courses. Too much chemical contamination. Remember: What goes into your birds ends up in your eggs.

 

[kwhites634]

It sure seems that way. Yes the requirement for even 1 chicken was 5 acres until December 8, 2017!
In our township you can now have 8 chickens on an acre. I think that is because I told the board that I wanted to keep 8 because it looked like we were not going to get variance. We won by one vote, so I am glad that I did that. Then they said that I couldn't replace them as they died... That is no longer the case because of the changed ordinance.Also no roosters but I knew that wasn't going to happen. I also had to shut down my business which was selling hatching eggs and day old chicks.

Officially 4 chickens on a 1/4 acre, and 8 on an acre, which doesn't make much sense... my math says 16 chickens on an acre. My 8 have relatives who visit on a rotating basis...

All of my adjoining neighbors say ! But they miss the roos and are giving the 1 guy who is furthest from the chickens the We are taking the high road and ignoring them. We had been the only people on our street who spoke with them at all. Guess we know why no one else was. Still, it was worth giving them a chance, and in the end we made chickens legal in South Brunswick!
We need more emojis!

No, what you need is to get the H... out of NJ

 

[Birdsong 82]

I do roadwork and depends on the area some areas spray pesticides And sometimes weed control for certain types of plants like hogweed which is very dangerous to be around. But certain areas are protected areas where they protect wild flowers and the bees and such. So it really depends on the area you are gathering from. But yes fuel emissions and things like that would be anywhere on the roadside

I admire your resourcefulness! But I wonder about the car emissions and if there is any research done on if they affect the roadside vegetation. Where we are, even on the verges of "rural" areas, there is a lot, A LOT, of traffic. Does anyone have info on this???

and sometimes weed control for certain types of plants like hogweed which is very dangerous to be around. But certain areas are protected areas where they protect wild flowers and the bees and such. So it really depends on the area you are gathering from. But yes fuel emissions and things like that would be anywhere on the roadside

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would not be comfortable using bedding collected from the sides of busy roads. Nor would I be willing to use bedding collected from public parks or golf courses. Too much chemical contamination. Remember: What goes into your birds ends up in your eggs.

This is why I opt for litter materials collected from around the back of my lot, which is at least 1/8th of a mile from the road. I don't fertilize or treat the grass, the weeds, the trees, so I feel safer using those as the base materials for my run.

 

[aart]

For it to really work you need a mix of materials in different sizes, to allow for drainage and to allow poop to mix in as well.

YES!!!

Bigger stuff helps the water drain down into the ground.

Also allows infiltration of air/oxygen to keep things aerobic... rather than a slimy anaerobic mass of nasty.

Mix of sizes, shapes, and materials is KEY .....
...too much of any one ingredient, especially the smaller more fragile ones like grass, hay, straw is not going to work.