pine shavings + rain= ?

[Jesseyinpink]

We just finished our coop and run yesterday. The ladies are still about a week or two from going in and one of our friends back east said the pine shaving will be mush in the winter (we live in Oregon). The ground below is TERRIBLE. It's all rocky and on a slight downgrade towards the coop. With the rain and the rocks the water isn't going to absorb into the ground as well as it should and we don't really want to leave it with just the ground since there are so many rocks. If we put down grass seed they'd probably just eat it. Any suggestions? Sod it? Sand? We don't really get snow, just rain...every day, all day, for months on end. Thanks!

 

[GoldDogsMom]

Definitely sand-rough construction grade sand, pine chips in a run is a mess-been there done that!

If you can put down a couple inches of gravel for drainage and then sand

 

[Jesseyinpink]

After I posted this I thought I'd look a little more for a similar existing thread and found one with 25 pages of replies almost all recommending sand. Thanks!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If it's a low area, you can always use a little more sand, keeping it in by adding boards around the base of the run. Start with what you think will work for now and add more later, if you need it.

 

[chfite]

I started with about 4 inches of river sand in my run. The chickens dig around the edges and throw the sand into the run, making a moat of sorts around the fencing. Consequently, I don't have a loss of sand.

I think sand is great. One nice thing is that you can shovel it right from the bed of your truck through the wire. I tossed it into the center of the run and the chickens spread it out for me.

In the worst wet, the sand drains so that the chicken aren't having to deal with standing water. The sand may be wet, but there is no standing water.

After watching the chickens turn poop over into the sand for the past year or so, I imagine that this sand is the richest soil for plants. I may dig it out and use it to supplement my garden.

Chris

 

[kooken]

is it okay for the chicken run to be all grass?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

That would be great to have grass. The problem is, they usually eat it down to nothing in a very short time. I can keep a green run by letting the chickens free range most of the time. When the hawks are migrating through in the fall, I keep them locked up. They are really hard on it, then.