Just something I found helpful that I thought I would share 
. I have a chicken run that is situated on the side of a hill (I made it quickly and didn't realize that it wasn't the best location). Well after 5 years of having chickens all the grass....well is gone. It gets pretty muddy when it rains, mud + a hill = a mess. So I try and find things to put in the run so I'm not (and the chickens aren't) stepping and slipping in mud. In the Spring/Summer I use grass clippings, the Fall I use leaves/pine needles/long dried grass, you could also use wood chips. I recently started using our left over wood "junk". We have a wood fire stove to hear our house so we cut A LOT of wood. All the shavings/bark/splinters/leaves that get mixed into a pile it great to put in your coop. Also little bugs like hiding in our left over wood "junk" which is fun for the hens to scratch through and find little treats. In the winter when I'm done with my Christmas tree I cut the branches off and lay them in the run (on top of the snow or in the area your shoveled the snow away). Just some cheap bedding ideas for your run
. Please share your thoughts and input!
. I have a chicken run that is situated on the side of a hill (I made it quickly and didn't realize that it wasn't the best location). Well after 5 years of having chickens all the grass....well is gone. It gets pretty muddy when it rains, mud + a hill = a mess. So I try and find things to put in the run so I'm not (and the chickens aren't) stepping and slipping in mud. In the Spring/Summer I use grass clippings, the Fall I use leaves/pine needles/long dried grass, you could also use wood chips. I recently started using our left over wood "junk". We have a wood fire stove to hear our house so we cut A LOT of wood. All the shavings/bark/splinters/leaves that get mixed into a pile it great to put in your coop. Also little bugs like hiding in our left over wood "junk" which is fun for the hens to scratch through and find little treats. In the winter when I'm done with my Christmas tree I cut the branches off and lay them in the run (on top of the snow or in the area your shoveled the snow away). Just some cheap bedding ideas for your run
I took as much mud out as I could and added wood chip which was great for so long but I found as it started to rot down as such the mud came to the surface again.
