What do y’all use on the run floor? Why?

[Babychicknewbie1]

I live in south Louisiana so it’s hot and occasionally very very rainy. The run has some grass left in it but it won’t be long until it’s all gone.

What do y’all use on the floor of the run? And why do you prefer it?

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Right now i just have sand/dirt but with all the rain half of it is no longer there.
So im going to get some construction sand(also called river sand and a few other names) its suppose to do well in wet areas.

 

[Babychicknewbie1]

Also, when you put horse pellets in the coop to soak up water from all the rain, after it’s all absorbed do you shovel it all out? I currently have hemp on the floor of the coop and I thought it was taking too long to dry up so I added some pellets.

 

[aart]

Also, when you put horse pellets in the coop to soak up water from all the rain, after it’s all absorbed do you shovel it all out? I currently have hemp on the floor of the coop and I thought it was taking too long to dry up so I added some pellets.

You shouldn't have water on the floor of the coop, you need to fix that by using gutters, trenches, swales to keep water from running into the coop.
Same goes for the run if water is puddling there.

I like coarse wood chippings from a tree trimmer in the run.
Soak up extra rain and composts the poops.

 

[Babychicknewbie1]

You shouldn't have water on the floor of the coop, you need to fix that by using gutters, trenches, swales to keep water from running into the coop.
Same goes for the run if water is puddling there.

I like coarse wood chippings from a tree trimmer in the run.
Soak up extra rain and composts the poops.

Yea I’ve dug a trench in front of the coop, it just hasn’t rained hard enough yet to try it out and see how well it works

 

[aart]

Yea I’ve dug a trench in front of the coop, it just hasn’t rained hard enough yet to try it out and see how well it works

Best time to dig trench is when it's raining hard, then you can see where the water goes.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

My Run = sand + bark and wood chips = great drainage. Coop floor = Railroad ties foundation, foam core insulation, Plywood = always dry, predator proof. I tried a bare/dirt coop floor specifically open pit under roost bars. It was never dry enough, we get a lot of rain. I suppose you can make it work if your geography is different and follow advice to dig trench. I just did not like it so I sealed it up and made poop trays under roost bars instead. Much better for my sitch.

 

[perkolator]

What do y’all use on the floor of the run? And why do you prefer it?

Organic materials - For the roofed run it's a deep DRY bedding system consisting of arborist wood chips and pine shavings bedding - it stays dry and I add material several times per year. In the exterior run I keep the ground moist as a deep moist litter system, using arborist wood chips, leaves and rakings, green waste, etc. and it's basically a big compost pile for the chickens to forage through daily when they're not free-ranging.

I like these deep dry bedding and deep moist litter system because there's hardly any chores and maintenance aside from adding more material and occasionally cleaning it out (once every 1-1.5yrs or so). Haven't noticed any issues with my setup such as smells, water retention, pests, etc. In the roofed run, I'll rake the chunks to the side and scoop out the fines from underneath and transfer that material to my compost bins to get it nice and hot before using in the garden. In the exposed run I am now at a point where I can harvest the topsoil underneath, for gardening.

 

[FrostRanger]

I use mulch as it's cheap and it is compostable which is important to me as I use their spent litter in my garden

 

[StinkyAcres]

I just started using playground pine chips that are "ASTM certified" and "100% all natural." Really liking it so far.