USe Hay in my Run for Mud but still smells any suggestions?

[CelticOaksFarm]

Hay is for feeding - if it gets wet it can and will mold which is not good

Straw is for bedding - is good in nest boxes and for winter warmth for duck houses ect. In a run it will hold water

Sand is for runs - drains well, can be raked, can be hosed down, is easy to level when they dig

 

[Lesa]

Sometimes it really is a short lived weather thing. When the snow first melted here, and before the spring rains came- it was a muddy, yucky mess. In a matter of days, it was fine again. It will depend on the drainage of the area, and your weather conditions... I did use straw/hay with excellent results, but I do not have a run, rather a well used path. They have about a 1/2 acre to roam, so much of the area remains fine.

 

[GiddyMoon]

Reading that Open Air Poultry House book yesterday from 1912..it was common practice to only use the run space for one year..they say after that the chickens need to be moved..too much bacteria builds up in the soil. Not that I am saying this is the issue..but I do think it is something we should all consider..as with any good farmer, he rotates where he plants and it is important to let the ground rest.

 

[lisababes]

OK, so you peeps who use sand - what happens after a year of chickens pooping on sand and it turns into sand-mud? Do you have a repository mountain of poo-sand somewhere in your yard? Or does your garden become half beach

after a couple years? I'm in the city w 4 chix and don't have acres to spread my waste.

Currently I have a "dirt" (probably 90% matted poo by now) run. We clean it occasionally, and scoop out any manure we can get a hold of, scraps, hay etc. In the summer we use grass clipping to help gather poop. Winter is nearly impossible to get in there, so its pretty ripe right now.

In my experience - whatever you put in there gets matted down w poo. I would assume this would be the same for rocks and sand. So, those of you who use rocks and sand - what do you do after a year or so?

I've read nearly everything I could find on here about muddy runs and fixing them, but there doesnt really seem to be any talk of long term maintenance with the poo("dirt") creation. diverting water with roofs and gutters is excellent, but what about the general poo buildup? You just can't get it all w basic cleanings. I'm thinking this 1912 book is right....

 

[Reg]

I have only had hens a month & my run is small but I dig a section of it over a couple of times a week.

The girls love it, they scratch for worms for hours after & it keeps the run clean.

I don't have any smell.

When the ground gest caked I will dig it out & swop it over with soil from my vet patch.

Great plan ask me how im getting on this time next year.

I had friends around today & the first thing they said was they don't smell. I think they were talking about the chickens

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
It really, really depends on your individual situation (precipitation, soil type, climate, density of chicken population, etc)

In some cases it does build up to the point of starting to get mucky. In that case, you would obviously either just add more sand to 'dilute' or cover it, or shovel out the worst and replace with new sand.

But in other cases it doesn't. The poo partly just "goes away", partly flushes down into the soil, partly blows away as dust, etcetera. So you can keep it that way indefinitely without actually having to do much of anything.

I would not presume to try to predict which way any given person's run is gonna go, not over the internet anyhow; but it does not matter a whole big lot IMO since if you do have the former situation it is not hard to fix.

The same goes for any kind of aggregate btw, not just sand.

Pat