Stinky run. What to use?

[Attack Chicken]

I was wonder what should I put in a run to keep it less stinky and that is easy to clean if it gets wet?

 

[Omran]

Quote:
Hi there, if you have a dirt run, I would till it once a week with the Garden tiller, I do that to my chicken's run and they love it.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

I have ducks in my run/pen and it's stinky too. I put straw down to help with the mud and I just bought a bag of Stall Dry. Haven't put it down yet but I'm hoping it will help. Also getting alot of flies.

 

[ams3651]

my son works for a tree service and when they grind stumps he brings the shavings home and I put them in the run when it gets too wet, drys out nicely and doesnt smell.

 

[Omran]

Quote:
Yes that's a perfect way to recycle.

 

[Kansaseq]

Stall Dri seems to be very popular with people on here. I picked up a bag over the weekend, and it has helped to keep the flies down and dry things out. So far so good.

 

[JewellFarm]

Stall Dry works great. It helped greatly when I put it in mine.

 

[patandchickens]

Basically what you want is to keep it as dry and non-decomposed-organic-y as possible. Drainage, downspouts/gutters, keeping rain out, free-draining nonspongy footing, etc. See the 'fix muddy run' link in my .sig below for more discussion.

You can add stall powders etc etc as temporary ongoing minor fix, but it is really worth investing some time and energy into making the run CONSTITUTIVELY not tend to get wet and stinky.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[willowcol]

My husband brought in sand, it is about 5 inches deep in the runs. I usually put hay on top for them to dig in. Nothing special whatever is cheap at the time. Right now we are using peanut hay, $1.00 a bail and the bonus peanuts the chickens love. I just rack up the hay and replace it every so often. It helps keep the run from getting nasty during heavy rains, and there is really no smell. I told him we need to do that to the dog kennel also. We didn't use special sand he just dug it at his job, the ground there is almost all sand.

 

[Jskip1]

a sloped floor helps with the drainage, and you can just wash it with some water and dry it off
you can also use straw or hay, but I don't use any of that things because I have a sloped floor and if the coop is wet the sun also helps to dry it off

(I built the coop on a location where it gets enough sunlight so it's never really too much moisture in it)