To cover or not, a small run for 2 hens with deep bedding

[gtaus]

Yes I agree, Edible Acres does look to be more labour intensive. What you’ve described of yours sounds like the ideal balance.

I live in northern Minnesota, so no method of composting seems to work "fast" where I live. My strategy has been to create more composting than I need and just give nature time to do its work. In addition to my chicken run composting, I have 5 pallet compost bins sitting out in the woods. I just fill them up one at a time, and move on to the next bin. I let the full bins sit for a year or longer before I harvest the compost. Nature does all the work for me. I don't turn my compost bins. It's not fast, but I don't need fast compost when I have so much aged compost ready to harvest at any time I want.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Yes! Paper will break down fast. I use it in my coop and then put in my run when I clean my coop

 

[DaveMK]

I live in northern Minnesota, so no method of composting seems to work "fast" where I live. My strategy has been to create more composting than I need and just give nature time to do its work. In addition to my chicken run composting, I have 5 pallet compost bins sitting out in the woods. I just fill them up one at a time, and move on to the next bin. I let the full bins sit for a year or longer before I harvest the compost. Nature does all the work for me. I don't turn my compost bins. It's not fast, but I don't need fast compost when I have so much aged compost ready to harvest at any time I want.

I started composting this year, with a 330 litre Dalek type bin. I bought an earth auger attachment for my cordless drill, and give it a turn once a week. I'm really pleased with the results in a short space of time. Come spring, I'll have more than enough compost for my needs, and with the addition of the chicken run compost, I should be well sorted.

 

[gtaus]

I started composting this year, with a 330 litre Dalek type bin. I bought an earth auger attachment for my cordless drill, and give it a turn once a week. I'm really pleased with the results in a short space of time. Come spring, I'll have more than enough compost for my needs, and with the addition of the chicken run compost, I should be well sorted.

Sounds like you are set for composting. One advantage to turning an uncovered chicken run into a chicken run composting system is that you can relatively quickly start making more compost than you can use.

I just let my chickens do the work of turning the run litter, but nature does a great job of breaking down the litter given time, too. When I first started my chicken run compost system, I used to go into the chicken run with my 10 inch mini tiller attachment on my grass trimmer powerhead to turn the run litter to help speed up the composting, but I quickly had more compost than I could use so I don't even bother to turn the litter anymore. If there is any area that I want turned more, I just throw the daily chicken scratch on that area and the chickens will scratch and peck everywhere to get the treats.

As a rule, I don't rototill my gardens anymore. But, I really like using this mini tiller setup to fluff up and mix up my chicken run compost with the topsoil in the raised garden beds before I fill them up.

For established beds, with plants in it, I prefer to use my small cultivator for better control. I can get right up to the plants without losing control of the cultivator and ripping the plant out by the roots.

Both of those battery-operated tools are really labor-saving devices for me. Dear Wife used the cultivator all the time in her flower beds. It's just so lightweight and easy to control. It breaks up the soil in a garden bed which makes pulling weeds really easy.

I'll have to check into an earth auger for my cordless drills. I can see where that would be useful as well.

 

[DaveMK]

Sounds like you are set for composting. One advantage to turning an uncovered chicken run into a chicken run composting system is that you can relatively quickly start making more compost than you can use.

I just let my chickens do the work of turning the run litter, but nature does a great job of breaking down the litter given time, too. When I first started my chicken run compost system, I used to go into the chicken run with my 10 inch mini tiller attachment on my grass trimmer powerhead to turn the run litter to help speed up the composting, but I quickly had more compost than I could use so I don't even bother to turn the litter anymore. If there is any area that I want turned more, I just throw the daily chicken scratch on that area and the chickens will scratch and peck everywhere to get the treats.

View attachment 3344976

As a rule, I don't rototill my gardens anymore. But, I really like using this mini tiller setup to fluff up and mix up my chicken run compost with the topsoil in the raised garden beds before I fill them up.

For established beds, with plants in it, I prefer to use my small cultivator for better control. I can get right up to the plants without losing control of the cultivator and ripping the plant out by the roots.

View attachment 3344978

Both of those battery-operated tools are really labor-saving devices for me. Dear Wife used the cultivator all the time in her flower beds. It's just so lightweight and easy to control. It breaks up the soil in a garden bed which makes pulling weeds really easy.

I'll have to check into an earth auger for my cordless drills. I can see where that would be useful as well.

Thanks for that info. I've never seen the small cultivator before.
I also use a small cultivator like this on a pole, and it can do the entire run in a few sweeps, as my run is tiny. I made the area directly beneath their roost open bottom, so that the muck drops straight down, however, half of it drops onto the bottom frame of the coop, which is something I need to address.

The only area that gets matted is directly under where the feeder drops feed. This is right next to their dust bath too, and it seems to get covered in sand and DE, which creates even more matting.

 

[gtaus]

I've never seen the small cultivator before.

I find the cultivator useful, but it's not a tiller. It is only really good for already established garden beds with somewhat loose soil. Not so good for breaking fresh sod. It has some advantages over a manual hoe, so I still keep it and use it when gardening.

I also use a small cultivator like this on a pole,

Wow! Love it! I have these same hoes on separate poles. I have often thought that they should be combined into one implement that you can just turn over in your hand. I have never seen this combo head on any tools at our big box stores. Where did you find this and what is it called?

I know how valuable those manual hoes are out in my garden, I use them all the time. But having both heads on one tool is a step up from using 2 separate hoes.

BTW, after reading your post on earth augers, I did a little online surfing last night and ordered this 2 Pack Auger Drill Bit for Planting 3"x12" and 1.6"x9" Spiral Drill for Planting Flower Garden Auger Hex Drive Drill, Hole Digger Auger Set for 3/8” Hex Drive Drill which I found on recent markdown sale change at Amazon for only $10.99.

And, I had $12.80 sitting in Amazon Rewards points to burn....so, no brainer.

I also watched a number of YouTube videos last night on these garden augers. One lady had an assortment of about 9 different augers of different sizes and lengths. Out of all of them, she suggested the 3"X12" as her go to choice. This pack had the same size, so I thought it was good place to start.

Dear Wife plants a lot of flower bulbs. I think these bits will make things easier for her than digging out holes with a manual hand spade. She is OK with using my small powered hand tools, like a hand drill, but would be too intimidated by a full-sized earth auger used to dig post holes.

Well, sorry if the topic strayed a bit from the initial post of covering or not covering a chciken run. But if you start making lots of compost in the chicken run to use in your gardens, then the tools like we discussed will be used sooner or later in your process.

 

[DaveMK]

View attachment 3345219

Wow! Love it! I have these same hoes on separate poles. I have often thought that they should be combined into one implement that you can just turn over in your hand. I have never seen this combo head on any tools at our big box stores. Where did you find this and what is it called?
BTW, after reading your post on earth augers, I did a little online surfing last night and ordered this 2 Pack Auger Drill Bit for Planting 3"x12" and 1.6"x9" Spiral Drill for Planting Flower Garden Auger Hex Drive Drill, Hole Digger Auger Set for 3/8” Hex Drive Drill which I found on recent markdown sale change at Amazon for only $10.99.
View attachment 3345226

The cultivator image I linked to is called Wolf Garten cultivator. It’s a German brand, and I have a few attachments. As you say, this is an awesome tool, and it’s so aggressive at tearing through deep bedding.

My earth auger bit is 60cm long. It’s the longest I could find, and I’d say it’s the shortest I’d go to be practical to stir the height of compost bin I have.

It has worked fantastically well though, and my compost looks pretty much ready to go.

 

[gtaus]

The cultivator image I linked to is called Wolf Garten cultivator. It’s a German brand, and I have a few attachments. As you say, this is an awesome tool, and it’s so aggressive at tearing through deep bedding.

Thanks. I'll have to look that up on Amazon or something. I have never seen one like that sold where I live.

My earth auger bit is 60cm long. It’s the longest I could find, and I’d say it’s the shortest I’d go to be practical to stir the height of compost bin I have. It has worked fantastically well though, and my compost looks pretty much ready to go.

Yeah, since I don't turn my compost, I really don't think I would need a longer shaft on an earth auger for planting flower bulbs. However, I do have a long extension for drill bits that would make either of those garden augers at least 60cm/24 inches long.

I would think just the act of drilling air holes with the auger into the compost bin would help speed up the process. Mixing it up all the better if that is what you do.

But like I said, I just fill my compost bins and let them sit for a very long time. It takes me about 1 year to fill up a pallet compost bin with stuff I don't want to toss into the chicken run. I have 5 bins. By the time the 5th bin is full, the first bin compost is more than ready enough to harvest even though it was never stirred up or turned over.

 

[shicken shack]

Composting needs moisture. Wood chips will take a long time to break down on their own. I mix grass clippings and other organic material along with my wood chips to help them compost. I converted my entire chicken run into a chicken run composting system, and letting rain fall on the run litter is the magic to get things composting. If you cover your run, you will have to water it yourself with buckets of water or a hose. The material you want to compost should have the consistency of a wrung out sponge.

Dry wood chips would take forever to compost. Like, maybe years and years. So mix in a bunch of greens and water them down.

Wood chips will rob the soil of nitrogen if you mix not-fully composted wood chips into the soil. You can use partially composted wood chips as top mulch, and they will eventually break down into soil. If you don't have time to let the wood chips fully compost, then using them as top mulch to suppress weeds is a great option. Over time, sitting out in the garden, the wood chips will break down and turn into soil.

My chickens scratch a lot and kick the bedding out of the run and out of the coop. Should I keep a layer of shavings or straw in the run? I end up raking up the straw or shavings that end up outside the run.

 

[gtaus]

My chickens scratch a lot and kick the bedding out of the run and out of the coop. Should I keep a layer of shavings or straw in the run? I end up raking up the straw or shavings that end up outside the run.

In my case, I don't care if they scratch some of the run litter out of the fence. I either rake it up and throw it back into the run, or, more than likely, I just run my mower with grass bag over the stuff and dump it back into the run. Using my mower to "vac" up all that litter that gets scratched out of the run chops the litter up even finer which will compost faster.

If you don't want your chickens scratching litter out of the run, you could put a strip of hardware cloth (maybe 6 inches higher than your litter) on the fence to keep the litter inside the run. I just cut an old piece of plywood to put across the doorway to my run so I could keep the door free to open. Scrap 1X6 boards would keep the litter in as well. If your feed bags are mostly plastic, you could probably line the fencing with that to block the litter from leaving the run. Lots of options. I usually look around to see what materials I have for free, and try to make that work.