UGH Poop Staying on the Surface of Run. SO FRUSTRATED

[ADozenGirlz]

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Thank you! The chickens help decide which plants and flowers will stay and which will not.

 

[hokankai]

Man, thanks so much you guys! I'm starting to feel hopeful that I can get this under control. So here are my plans from the advice I've been given so far:

- cover the roof with something...probably corrugated panels just to decrease the amount of rain making it into the run...and to make it so the girls don't mind being in the run when it rains...anything particularly good for roofing that will last awhile and get the job done?

- gutters and downspouts

- We're going to flush the gravel again, 2 months ago we did this by shoveling it into a pile and hosing it down for about half an hour. It helped with the problem then but needs it again

- loosen up the ground somehow so the gravel can be moved around

- is the mulch cloth necessary? I like the idea of it!

- dump sand on top of it. I'm going to have to put a board in from of the door to hold in the sand, but that's fine

Is that it? I like the idea of the enzyme just as a deep cleaning measure, if I can find some I think I'll try that after we flush out the organic material from the gravel.

 

[patandchickens]

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Metal is usually the best compromise of price/longevity. PVC is cheaper but will not last long and I highly don't recommend it for roofs. Polycarbonate lets you have transparent/translucent if you want (metal, obviously, doesn't

) but is typically a big more expensive than metal and while it may ideally last almost as long it won't OUTlast metal. So, I'd say you're choosing between metal and polycarbonate.

- is the mulch cloth necessary? I like the idea of it!

It is not necessary at all and chickens will dig holes in it and get it all ribboned up. But, it's a free country

I like the idea of the enzyme just as a deep cleaning measure, if I can find some I think I'll try that after we flush out the organic material from the gravel.

It won't do anything that EXISTING soil processes won't do, but if you want to stimulate the economy then go for it

Sounds like you have a sensible plan, let us know this summer or fall how it is working for you!

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[silkiechicken]

You know what your BIGGEST problem is?

You live in the PNW....

I currently free range from about 10am till sun down year round with 6-16 adult birds in a 8x8 tractor style covered run/coop for safe night time keeping. I scrape it out twice a year to get some of the richest garden dirt there is to be had. It only takes about 1 month for an entire bag of shavings to disappear into poop in the large coop with dirt floor.

In portable tractor style run/coop things that are 4x8 with an attached 2x4 hutch... raising 5 pullets from day 0-4 months leaves a 4x8 and 2x4 dead patch of grass for about 12 months if I do not dig it up and plant something in it. Goes along with the foot or two deep piles of pine needles that sit in the "forested" areas that just don't really break down.

Sorry, can't really help you, just letting you know you're not alone.

 

[hokankai]

I wish we could do the whole tractor thing...however, we don't have anything to pull the tractor with and our land is a continuous hill. the meadow the coop is on is really the only flat part of the property

Thanks again you guys! Now it's time to get to WORK!

We're adding more chickens this spring as well as a separate coop for bantams. Anything I should do right off the bat in building another run that may be more effective?

Oh yes, and I was mistaken, the run is 16x8, we build it for 12 chickens knowing we'd be getting more...and we are! Haha

 

[perchie.girl]

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I only thought of mulch cloth because someone else mentioned that the chickens would stir it all together. The particular mulch I have is Very thick almost like a felt and like I said even a shovel wont go through it. I personally dont think its necessary. But I like the thought of it keeping the sand up and out of the gravel allowing the gravel to remain a french drain of sorts....

LOL if you get suggestions from me I tend to over think stuff sometimes and offer up a bunch of solutions. Just take what you feel will work for you I wont be offended... There are always several solutions for a single problem.