sand or for run?

[lindy]

so sounds like neither will work, so might as well leave it how it is? i dont have yard trimmings, or shavings. still on the waitlist for shavings which is hard to get around here right now and im not buying bagged shavings for the run.

 

[lindy]

I would avoid sand in run that is exposed to the elements. It makes a mess of your chickens' feet if it freezes. Also, if you have a clay soil and you mix in sand and lime (chicken poo)....and then it bakes in the sun on a hot day....

I like the deep litter method for my run. I do use coarse sand in my coop.

what is considered hot? we might get two 90 degree days in the year. sometimes a week of 80's but normally 50-70 during the day

 

[Tahai]

My preference for my run (10x20 ft) is straw. I'm in northern Pennsylvania and have clay soil. There are muddy conditions in the late fall and all spring long - rarely in the summer, but not unheard of. We generally have frozen ground all winter, and, more often than not, snow cover.

During the muddy seasons, I buy a bale of straw every couple of weeks, and just throw a few flakes of it in the run where it is the muddiest. The Hens spend many happy hours hunting through it for any seeds that might have been left behind. This works the straw into the soil, where it breaks down and forms a nice fluffy loam that drains pretty well after a few months when it builds up enough. Occasionally I scatter some lime on the ground if it starts to stink.

Once the rain lets off, I put some straw in every now and then just to keep the hens busy with their scratching. Once the snow starts, I cover the area around the ramp and under the coop (there is a wind break there in the winter) with a thick layer of straw just to keep their little feet safe from freezing to the ground.

Straw in my area is not cheap - about $8-10 a large bale, but it composts in sooooo much better than the wood chips or shavings, and straw rarely goes moldy, unlike the wood. For my run, I don't like the compressed bales of chopped straw from Tractor Supply, because there are no seeds for the hens to find. (I do like those bales for mulching my garden, though!)

 

[Tahai]

what is considered hot? we might get two 90 degree days in the year. sometimes a week of 80's but normally 50-70 during the day

anything that is sitting in the sun most of the day, I would say 70's and up. That's how bricks and cob houses were made. I do use straw and occasional lime in my clay soil, but the lime doesn't go in until the straw has decomposed enough to build up a nice, several inches deep loam that mitigates the clay aspect of my natural soil

 

[lindy]

i dont think straw would work, when the goats waste some hay from the feeder it gets moldy within a few days. then it stinks if i dont get it cleaned up

 

[rosemarythyme]

so sounds like neither will work, so might as well leave it how it is? i dont have yard trimmings, or shavings. still on the waitlist for shavings which is hard to get around here right now and im not buying bagged shavings for the run.

Since you've had some muck issues some form of litter is needed, just not sure how well your available options will work. If the bulk shavings or sawdust aren't too expensive (and you have somewhere to put it if it doesn't work out), they may still be worth trying. They might need more maintenance or routine replacement, but if nothing else you'll eventually get compost out of it.

 

[Tahai]

i dont think straw would work, when the goats waste some hay from the feeder it gets moldy within a few days. then it stinks if i dont get it cleaned up

You know your environment better than I do, obviously, but hay and straw are quite different. Hay molds, straw generally doesn't.