Okay, here's the deal:
We've had chickens for years. They were largely free-ranging, but spent a significant amount of time in their run. A fairly "normal" run; mostly soil that was at first covered in grass with the grass later disappearing completely; a few bushes woody enough for the chickens to be unable to destroy them; a small part of the ground consisting of solid rock.
This summer, we sold all chickens in order to take a break. In the upcoming spring, we'll get new ones.
A horse owner nearby has a huge pile of horse manure that's turned into very loose and fertile soil, and we have permission to take as much of it as we want. I'm thinking about putting some in the run for our next chickens.
More about the soil in our run: It roughly consists of two types. In one part of the run it's very "lumpy". It's sort of like tufts of grass, but with the actual grass removed. In the other part, the soil is one big flat "cake", and if the chickens scratch a hole in the cake, perfect dust-bathing soil is underneath. These two soil areas are separated by rocks and bushes, so you can do stuff with one of them without affecting the other.
I'm thinking about putting some of that ex-manure in the run. My idea is that such loose soil will be much more fun to scratch than the present one. (Our last chickens didn't do much scratching in the soil when they were penned up). Also, I'm thinking that the ex-manure is so nutrient-rich that it will draw bugs for the chickens to eat, and possibly even make plants grow better (though I suspect the chickens will eat any plants before they can grow at all).
Arguments against that:
- The ex-manure may be loose and scratchable now, but won't it also be flattened into a cake once the chickens have stepped on it 1000 times?
- It would be a shame to ruin aforementioned dust-bathing soil by putting other stuff on top. That's why I made a point of the soil being in two distinct areas - I could add ex-manure to only the area that doesn't lend itself to dust-bathing.
- It would be a real pain in the back to put the ex-manure into the coop! We'd have to go through the present, human-sized gate. Maybe any small pros aren't worth this con.
- As for the adding of nutrients, the chickens' own poop might do that perfectly fine.
I might be over-thinking this, but do y'all have any opinions on the subject?
We've had chickens for years. They were largely free-ranging, but spent a significant amount of time in their run. A fairly "normal" run; mostly soil that was at first covered in grass with the grass later disappearing completely; a few bushes woody enough for the chickens to be unable to destroy them; a small part of the ground consisting of solid rock.
This summer, we sold all chickens in order to take a break. In the upcoming spring, we'll get new ones.
A horse owner nearby has a huge pile of horse manure that's turned into very loose and fertile soil, and we have permission to take as much of it as we want. I'm thinking about putting some in the run for our next chickens.
More about the soil in our run: It roughly consists of two types. In one part of the run it's very "lumpy". It's sort of like tufts of grass, but with the actual grass removed. In the other part, the soil is one big flat "cake", and if the chickens scratch a hole in the cake, perfect dust-bathing soil is underneath. These two soil areas are separated by rocks and bushes, so you can do stuff with one of them without affecting the other.
I'm thinking about putting some of that ex-manure in the run. My idea is that such loose soil will be much more fun to scratch than the present one. (Our last chickens didn't do much scratching in the soil when they were penned up). Also, I'm thinking that the ex-manure is so nutrient-rich that it will draw bugs for the chickens to eat, and possibly even make plants grow better (though I suspect the chickens will eat any plants before they can grow at all).
Arguments against that:
- The ex-manure may be loose and scratchable now, but won't it also be flattened into a cake once the chickens have stepped on it 1000 times?
- It would be a shame to ruin aforementioned dust-bathing soil by putting other stuff on top. That's why I made a point of the soil being in two distinct areas - I could add ex-manure to only the area that doesn't lend itself to dust-bathing.
- It would be a real pain in the back to put the ex-manure into the coop! We'd have to go through the present, human-sized gate. Maybe any small pros aren't worth this con.
- As for the adding of nutrients, the chickens' own poop might do that perfectly fine.
I might be over-thinking this, but do y'all have any opinions on the subject?
The tunnel to the outside was my concern which prompted my action. I felt something might be able to slither or squeeze in that area. If I buried my frame that might help to as well as higher above ground. They would literally have to dig to China to create a tunnel out. 
