In a 10 x 10 run, the chickens will keep it picked bare. Nothing will grow in there. It may take them some time to eat it down, depending in how many chickens you have, but they will get it bare and eat anything that sprouts unless you do something special like those grow frames. Even then the poop may build up to a level that things won’t grow in them so you may occasionally need to change out the soil in them.
The key to a healthy run is to keep it dry, or at least not wet. The microbes that eat wet manure when it is soaking wet cause a stink when they decompose it. The ones eating slightly damp manure do not cause a bad stink. When the weather sets in wet, it is really hard to keep a run dry. Rain blows in, water runs in, and chickens dig holes for dust bathing that become mud puddles. If your run is where it gets wet or stays wet, it doesn’t matter that much what you have on the surface. You have a problem. A big run especially can be a challenge.
A wet run is also a breeding ground for disease. A damp run is not bad, but a wet run is dangerous.
A smaller run is easier to try to keep water out. Slope the roofs or use gutters to get rainwater away from the area. A roof or side walls can help. Position it on high ground, fill it some with dirt to raise it, and/or use berms or swales to divert water away from it.
If water gets in, get it out. The run needs to be high enough that the water has a place to drain to. Sand drains really well, but if you are in a low spot in clay and dig out a hole then fill it with sand, you have created a swimming pool filled with sand. If you build the base up so water has some place to go, you have a good situation. If your terrain is suitable, a French drain may help as long as the water has a low spot to drain to. Good ventilation can help them dry out too.
Some people with smaller runs fill it with sand and use a cat litter scoop to remove a lot of the poop. That reduces the poop load and helps. Some people put bedding in then remove it when it gets wet, then replace the bedding. That’s a lot of work plus you have a lot of bedding to get rid of, but that works for some people.
Some people use dirt or sand for the run. Some people throw in litter; straw, hay, wood shavings, wood chips, leaves, dried grass clippings, maybe green grass clippings, and that works for them if the run drains fairly well, especially in drier areas. The chickens keep it stirred up looking for good stuff so it dries out. I can think of one lady in Texas that fills her run with leaves every fall and by springtime that has broken down to compost with the chickens fertilizing it and keeping it stirred up. She’s in a drier warmer area than most of us. She cleans her run out in the spring instead of the coop in the fall like a lot of us gardeners.
Different things work for different people depending on their situation. If it doesn’t stink you are doing OK, even if it feels like peat moss walking on it. If it stinks you might want to think about what you are doing.
The key to a healthy run is to keep it dry, or at least not wet. The microbes that eat wet manure when it is soaking wet cause a stink when they decompose it. The ones eating slightly damp manure do not cause a bad stink. When the weather sets in wet, it is really hard to keep a run dry. Rain blows in, water runs in, and chickens dig holes for dust bathing that become mud puddles. If your run is where it gets wet or stays wet, it doesn’t matter that much what you have on the surface. You have a problem. A big run especially can be a challenge.
A wet run is also a breeding ground for disease. A damp run is not bad, but a wet run is dangerous.
A smaller run is easier to try to keep water out. Slope the roofs or use gutters to get rainwater away from the area. A roof or side walls can help. Position it on high ground, fill it some with dirt to raise it, and/or use berms or swales to divert water away from it.
If water gets in, get it out. The run needs to be high enough that the water has a place to drain to. Sand drains really well, but if you are in a low spot in clay and dig out a hole then fill it with sand, you have created a swimming pool filled with sand. If you build the base up so water has some place to go, you have a good situation. If your terrain is suitable, a French drain may help as long as the water has a low spot to drain to. Good ventilation can help them dry out too.
Some people with smaller runs fill it with sand and use a cat litter scoop to remove a lot of the poop. That reduces the poop load and helps. Some people put bedding in then remove it when it gets wet, then replace the bedding. That’s a lot of work plus you have a lot of bedding to get rid of, but that works for some people.
Some people use dirt or sand for the run. Some people throw in litter; straw, hay, wood shavings, wood chips, leaves, dried grass clippings, maybe green grass clippings, and that works for them if the run drains fairly well, especially in drier areas. The chickens keep it stirred up looking for good stuff so it dries out. I can think of one lady in Texas that fills her run with leaves every fall and by springtime that has broken down to compost with the chickens fertilizing it and keeping it stirred up. She’s in a drier warmer area than most of us. She cleans her run out in the spring instead of the coop in the fall like a lot of us gardeners.
Different things work for different people depending on their situation. If it doesn’t stink you are doing OK, even if it feels like peat moss walking on it. If it stinks you might want to think about what you are doing.
