Where are you? Do you have especially hot summers or especally cold winters?
If you live in
my climate:
I would put boards up along the fencing at the bottom to hold in the majority of the bedding/shavings.
I would put down "stuff".
My kind of
indoor ( won't get exposed to rain) "stuff" is shredded newspaper sent through an office shredder 5" deep.
My runs ( winter time) are also not exposed to the dirt. My kind of
outdoor "stuff" is a layer of alphalfa/grass mix hay put down at least 3" thick. I add to it almost daily and clean it out completely at least 2 times a month. I start all over again after that.
When I clean it out depends on our weather. I never let them walk around on wet bedding. If it rained and then froze too fast, then I ad enough bedding to make it warm , dry, and soft.
Spring, Summertime,and Fall, My flock runs around on over an acre of electric fenced area and they can really mess things up. Poopy Machines. When they are confined it's just more concentrated so plan on cleaning often.
One Very Important Point:
Don't use straw if you live in my kind of area. Once it gets wet, it's very heavy.
PS:
You will be able to find all your answers here. A continuing education class that has no graduates and lots of teachers.
I'm new at this, we just got some chickens about a month ago at our local country store.
