Run flooring suggestions

[RedFreckleFarmette]

It just won't work as well, shavings are too thin so they tend to pack together.
If you can't find and store a pile of tree trimmings,
might look for some chunky pine bark in bags.

Is this the pine bark nuggets you can get at like Lowes or Home Depot or are you talking about mulch?

 

[aart]

Is this the pine bark nuggets you can get at like Lowes or Home Depot or are you talking about mulch?

Yes.
Most bagged mulch is dyed and not much larger than shavings.
Pine bark was the chunkiest I could find when I went that route.

 

[3KillerBs]

Do you have to dig it up and replace or you just keep adding grass clippings, etc to it?

No, you don't have to dig it up until it either piles up so high it becomes a problem or you want compost for your garden.

I am in northern Alabama. I have pine trees lining my property so I can get pine needles pretty easy if that would work as my base layer...but how thick would it need to be? Also I have pine bedding that I use in the coop...could I use that on top of the pine needles and then throw grass clippings on top when we mow?

IMO, a mix of materials is better than any one material alone. Pine straw is underrated by people who don't live in the Southeast. I find that it doesn't pack and mat, doesn't break down too quickly, and dries out on top rapidly after even the heaviest rain.

It's common practice to throw the used coop bedding into the run. I haven't done so with my current setup because I have to put the area back to lawn once the Chicken Palace is finished, but lots of people are happy with their results. I do throw the contents of the lawn sweeper in there. I did so yesterday and saw when I got home from work today that the chickens had thoroughly stirred up the mixture.

Here's a post full of my rambling thoughts in re: run litter in my current circumstances: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/thoughts-on-bedding-litter-why-i-chose-straw-today.1481550/

Is

If I can't get any wood chips is there anything wrong with layering with pine bedding? Do I have to shovel it out over time or does it just break down as I add more?

It will break down over time. Some people manage to get their input and chicken density to the point of perfect balance where they never need to take anything out, but I personally want to eventually harvest compost for my garden so I probably err on the side of over-abundance.

Any time you've got an odor or mud problem (assuming good drainage in general), you can add more litter. Any time it gets deep enough to spill out or to block the doors you can pull aside the less broken down top layers and shovel out some compost. It's a flexible system.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Do you have to dig it up and replace or you just keep adding grass clippings, etc to it?

In general you can just keep adding, unless you want to harvest some for use as compost.

If I can't get any wood chips is there anything wrong with layering with pine bedding? Do I have to shovel it out over time or does it just break down as I add more?

The main issue with relying on shavings as the base material vs something chunkier such as wood chips is shavings pack down when wet, which does not allow for aeration (and aerobic composting deeper in the layers) and drainage (that's crucial to controlling wetness in the run).