Run flooring advice please

[gtaus]

Meanwhile in my area, trucks drive around with "FREE CHIPS" stickers on the back, and every time I talk to the tree guy he wants to know if I need more.

Only wish....

 

[AngusMc]

Yeah, the amount of augmenting needed will vary from set up to set up. Like for me, I stopped actively adding any chips to the run for about 2 years (the only chips added were used ones from the coop), and that was fine up until last winter when the run started getting muddy again, so I added a bunch to the worst areas, and it re-stabilized very quickly.

Basically if it starts to become muddy, sticky, smelly... it probably needs more chips. Otherwise grass clippings, weeds, garden trimmings, dried leaves, pine needles, etc. are all typical good mix ins to help with the composting action to break down poop inside the litter.

Super helpful for another new owner too. Thanks!

 

[gtaus]

It's not perfect and it does not always smell great but what chicken toilet does?

But that is exactly why I am such a big fan of using wood chips. Since I switched to wood chips, I no longer have bad smells. It smells like a forest. Even after almost a year without cleaning, the coop smells just fine. When I used sand and straw in the past, I could not go more than a week without cleaning and replacing the litter.

For the chicken run, I just dump all organic matter out there. Grass clippings, wood chips, leaves, weeds from the garden, kitchen scraps, etc... I just let everything compost out there. It never smells. After a heavy soaking rain, it just smells like wet forest floor. Very natural, and certainly never offensive.

But I think the trick to the composting chicken run is laying down the litter in layers. If you dump a large pile of grass clippings in one spot, and it rains, you will get a wet, smelly, anaerobic mess. Take that same amount of grass clippings and spread it out, maybe throw in some leaves or wood chips either on top or mixed in, and everything is in balance.

For @Emily26, another option for coop or run litter is shredded paper and cardboard. I just dumped another bag of shredded newspaper, paper, and cardboard into my chicken coop this evening. The chickens will mix the shredded paper into the wood chips and you end up with a multicolored litter in the coop. I have tried dumping shredded paper into the chicken run, but I did not really like the looks of all that colored paper out there. However, after the first rain, all that shredded paper seemed to disappear. I think shredded paper composts pretty fast and the rain will just break it down even faster.

I only use shredded paper with the chickens because I am trying to minimize the amount of stuff we send to the landfill. Instead of sending that paper to a toxic landfill, why not just shred it up at home and use it for the chickens? Or even just dump it in the compost bin as a carbon source to balance out whatever nitrogen sources you have. A normal paper 6-8 sheet shredder will even shred light cardboard from cereal boxes.

I just got an Amazon's Basic 12 sheet shredder that also shreds cardboard boxes. So now I cut up my packing boxes into strips and feed those into the shredder. Here is the YouTube video I got the idea from.

 

[gtaus]

If the chicken coop/run smells there is something wrong.

Exactly. Which is why I keep on saying "The nose knows."

 

[gtaus]

The poop is the (very close) second (to eggs) reason that I got chickens. My run is covered, so the ground there is quite dry. After the grass was gone, I added lots (and lots and lots) of fall leaves, and those are nicely shredded now.

Our coop and run will be moved to its summer place in a couple of months. I plan to rake up the mulch that they've made for me to put in my garden.

The summer spot had a very nice mixture of dried grass, old bedding, and poop that I raked up this spring. I let it sit all winter, and it has made the best potting soil mixture I've ever had.

I would think that if a chicken run was covered, that would change up a lot of the suggestions given to OP. In that case, the sawdust and grass clippings would probably work just fine.

I have thought that a covered run, or even a partially covered run, would have lots of advantages. However, I live in snow country and any covered run would have to be built to withstand a good snow load. That's just money I am not willing to invest. In the end, I turned my chicken run into a composting system and the rainfall on the litter just is a bonus for me.

 

[Sally PB]

Buying a chipper is an investment that might not be worth it to lots of people.

Very true! A good one ain't cheap!

 

[KyCoop]

I am team pine pellet/sawdust. My run is 8 x16 + 6x6 under the coop and is covered. It does get wet if there is blowing rain but it has never matted down. Its 2 -4 inches deep. With that being said, I do rake up the poop everyday and turn it once a week. I also put down DE as the girls like to bath in the run. I add new after we have had a lot of rain or when I can start to see bare spots. It's not perfect and it does not always smell great but what chicken toilet does? The girls like it and their feet stay mostly clean all the time. I'm in my 50's and this is easy for me to maintain.