What chicken run material should I use?

[dannyd21]

I live in North Carolina and I'm doing major upgrades to the chicken coop. I was wondering which material is best for the chickens whilst keeping the smell down for the neighbors. Locally I have mulch, hardwood mulch, a type of wood mulch but much thicker and river sand. The run is not covered.

 

[azygous]

Why not consider a covered run? Not only will it be much easier to keep the run from smelling bad to your neighbors, but the chickens will feel so much safer and secure with the cover, lowering stress levels and that translates to more eggs.

A wet run is a smelly run. Without a covered run, every time it rains, you (and the neighbors) will have to endure the stink until it dries out. Even if you install sand in the run and keep the poop scooped, the left over poop particles will smell when the sand gets wet.

Deep litter may work better than sand with an uncovered run as long as you manage the litter properly. Keeping the substrate aerated requires as much work as scooping poop in a sandy run. Are you prepared for the effort required?

A covered run could mean a little less work to keep the run from smelling.

My run is covered with corrugated metal and fiberglass panels, easy and fast to install. Give it some thought.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Do you have photos of the different mulches? Assuming you're going with a deep litter set up you ideally want chunky, aged wood chips in a variety of sizes as the base material to allow for aeration and drainage.

 

[aart]

A wet run is a smelly run.

Not necessarily true.

My run has a mesh 'cover'.
Coarse wood chippings work very well at breaking down the poops.
They only need to be a few inches deep.