Is there any suggestions for run care? Mine is on dirt/soil and it builds up fast . Every week or so I have to try to crawl half way into the little doorway and rake and remove. I use Sweet PDZ in the coop floor is there something other than dirt I should have in the run?
It helps to know what sort of environment You have..... general area of the country. But work with what is available and economical.
first of all Just a teeny suggestion.....Next time you build a run make it tall enough so you can stand up, if possilbe. it will make life infinately easier.
I read up on Sweet PDZ... very good stuff. good at ammonia absorption. any way. Deep litter was suggested It works for Many Many people. It esseentially turns the coop and run into a compost engine. depending on a bit of moisture above and below to keep the organic matter cooking and breaking down.
I cant do it here. because of my climate. humidity in the low 20s most of the year. and Water is at a premium reserved only for drinking for the animals. For me its a double whammy. LONG term Drought a well that historically is a low producer and the water table dropped 100 feet so far.
I depend on the climate to help me do the work. Large runs so the maneur doesnt get built up over a small area.... But really most of the concentrated poop happens in the roosting area. I use rice hulls for the floor. They are available here and the chickens love em. and if they are not available I use shavings. both stay fluffy longer allowing air circulation while the poo dessicates.
I like rice hulls because my horse likes them for a bed.... I pour a pile in and she will sift through a bit to find little bits of rice then she does a Big OOOMPH as she plops down in the middle of them.... too funny.
But the birds like to sift through too looking for little bits of rice so I dont have to spread the hulls out they do it for me. And the Black birds will line up on the fence and mumble while I work... waiting for me to leave so they can do a little digging themselves....
MY personal other choice would be sand. Because I can harvest it off my own property... Horse drags a big tractor tire on occasion and it fills up with sand as we go.... We havent done it in a very long time but we could.
deb
