Pooooooooop!

[aart]

@aart that rooster in the third picture is a GORGEOUS fellow! What is he?

He was a Welsummer.

What about pine needles? Leaves? For ground cover in the run?

A mix of dry plant matter of various sizes shapes is the best. Too much of any one ingredient can cause problems.

Also do the grass clippings have to be dried out? Can we put in from the bagger?

You can, but be careful. I don't put fresh cut 'grass' clippings in my run, the birds can gorge on it and clog their crops, plus it's more nitrogen and may imbalance the mix.
I pile the bagged grass clippings along the outside of the run so I don't have to trim there, they can pick some thru the 1/2" hardware cloth.

Basically you want to balance your 'brown' and 'greens' (composting terms),
as this is really a cold composting situation.
Chicken poop is a lot of 'green' so you want to add mostly 'browns' to the run.
Best to keep an eye on it and adjust your additions accordingly.

 

[TheYLWFlock]

He sure is a beauty! What do you mean “Was a Welsummer”? Is he gone...?

 

[ChristieDB]

X2 to all the above. DLM here too, cant beat it!

DLM in an open air run? The coop this year is just a small elevated coop. Walk in will be built for next year... We are newbies to this. But we build the run to go with the large walk in coop. I know we will use DLM for the walk in, but wondering now about the run?

 

[aart]

He sure is a beauty! What do you mean “Was a Welsummer”? Is he gone...?

Yep, I change out cockbirds every 3 years.
Willie the Black Copper Marans is the new flock cock, he's just as handsome.

 

[ChristieDB]

He was a Welsummer.


A mix of dry plant matter of various sizes shapes is the best. Too much of any one ingredient can cause problems.

You can, but be careful. I don't put fresh cut 'grass' clippings in my run, the birds can gorge on it and clog their crops, plus it's more nitrogen and may imbalance the mix.
I pile the bagged grass clippings along the outside of the run so I don't have to trim there, they can pick some thru the 1/2" hardware cloth.

Basically you want to balance your 'brown' and 'greens' (composting terms),
as this is really a cold composting situation.
Chicken poop is a lot of 'green' so you want to add mostly 'browns' to the run.
Best to keep an eye on it and adjust your additions accordingly.

So many questions but want to do the best I can for them.

So, basically right now it's just the normal ground in there (grass floor) but we need to start balancing out the run with browns (dried leaves, pine needles (of which we have a kazillion), and maybe some other brown stuff (??) and greens (chicken poop, grass clippings (dried out if possible) and lawn/garden clippings).

Use sand in the coop with a little of the stuff you mentioned and sift it every day.

I'm catching on

 

[aart]

So, basically right now it's just the normal ground in there (grass floor) but we need to start balancing out the run with browns (dried leaves, pine needles (of which we have a kazillion), and maybe some other brown stuff (??) and greens (chicken poop, grass clippings (dried out if possible) and lawn/garden clippings).

Really only browns in the run, the poop is plenty of green......
...and really you'll still have to watch about stepping in it.

 

[orrpeople]

The other thing I do is turn the dry run material over with dirt (some people actually take their tiller in; I just use a shovel and do a little bit every week) This turns the soil/droppings/shavings/straw mixture into really luscious looking soil. Ever since I started giving it a good turning, I can't believe how nice the coops look (and they don't stink!).

 

[rosemarythyme]

Also call me crazy but I do walk around my run every couple of days with a dog scooper and clean up the run. The girls follow me around and I don't mind cleaning it up at all. Doesn't take long at all if I keep up with it.

I scoop the big obvious ones daily and it takes about 1 minute. Well worth it to not be stomping on those in my boots. Everything else just mixes down into the litter.

 

[aart]

I scoop the big obvious ones daily and it takes about 1 minute. Well worth it to not be stomping on those in my boots. Everything else just mixes down into the litter.

I just watch where I walk,
and wear shoes with smoother soles so they are easily wiped off on the grass outside the run.

 

[gator75]

The grass will turn into sand and dirt quickly. Then it won't be as bad