What do I do now..when the grass is gone in the run?

[lindalue]

what do I use as flooring in the run when the grass is gone ,its getting kinda poopy in there. the birds are still a little young for letting out,we do let them in a temp. area with a moveable fence , but only for awhile.

 

[onthespot]

put down shavings if it's dry, covered area, sand if it is open and prone to getting wet.

 

[teach1rusl]

If you're down to dirt, put sand down (several inches). It drains well and makes cleaning up droppings easy.

ETA - or a sand/pea gravel mix

 

[MareeZoCool]

You could toss in a couple bales of straw. Wheat straw is great, the chickens will do all the spreading for you, just remove those ropes holding the bale together. Grab a seat and enjoy your private chicken comedy.

 

[BoltonChicken]

put down shavings if it's dry, covered area, sand if it is open and prone to getting wet.

This is good advice.

You could toss in a couple bales of straw.

I would advise against hay or straw. Dirt and poop will cause it to clump together and when that happens it is the very devil to clean up. Also grows bacteria at a good rate as straw does not wick away the water the way pine shavings do.​

 

[patman75]

Quote:
X2, sand is great.

 

[TroutsChicks]

I am down to the same problem> I cant tell you how many times that I have fell in the coop b/c of the ground has just been picked clean and now is slick ( poop, clay, wet from the rain

) buying sand...thats not cheap! wish i still lived in fl. Soooo i was thinking of to things. down and the bottom of the "holler" is a stream, its dry now so theres alot of small pebbly gravel....oooor theres two giant piles of wood chips that have been dumped from the tree workers who have run them through a chipper. Both of these are free and available to me with some work. whats yalls thoughts?

 

[ThinkingChickens]

I'm going with sand the moment our walk in run is finished. I've seen it used and there were no flies, no smell, and just a clean environment.

 

[Cadjien_De_Louisiane]

Pine shavings

 

[TreeHugger]

Pine shavings; I'd suggest sand if you are going to continue using that area for chickens in the future.