What do YOU use in your RUN??

[clairabean]

Bare ground. Seems more natural to me. For fun I throw in some hay and they go nuts for it. Or leaves in fall. The chickens love to make little hollows in the ground to sunbath in.

 

[hennyannie]

We started out putting a deep layer of sand in the run, they loved it. I wanted to have grass in there but they destroyed that idea(literally) Now I just turn the soil with the mantis tiller(LOVE the mantis) and the girls have a blast on mantis day!

 

[EricH]

Quote:
the plants dont last too long in any run ive ever seen.... thats on the OTHER side of the fence...

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I sperate gravel, sand and dirt adn they mix it all together. The sand and gravel do well to keep things even but I have to break it all up about once every month because they mix it up and compound it down.

 

[stowellka]

i use about 3" of sand over dirt .then a couple times a week i rake the sand around, but really the peeps turn over the sand w/ their constant scratching
i also throw in grass clippings, weeds, and scratch couple times a week ,then use a lawn rake to clean up if needed

 

[paceysgl5]

Thanks for all the replies! I think I'm going to go for a mixture too, still not sure if I want all sand, but it should help with the mud, though I've heard it's not so great in cold climates? it'd be great for the summer though. Definitely will have grass clippings/weeds to throw in there weekly so that's a great idea.

Yes I live in Taunton...near Hannaford's though that prob wasn't here when you were! Henry's is gone

I think it closed the first year we were here, just long enough for us to try their root beer and awesome french fries and then they closed...I'm actually more in N. Dighton than Taunton and sort of wish my address reflected that...

 

[krcote]

Quote:
This, with a base-layer of sand.

 

[Donna5]

Great topic...I finally solved my run questions. They are still in the house while coop is nearly complete. Sand it is...on another thread I asked about a pot of grass, someone suggested wire over it to keep the roots intact. Now I get sand, easy to clean and grass to peck at. Yay almost done!

 

[ThinkingChickens]

We had an organic mulch and now it's dirt. I'm sure in winter we'll add a little hay or straw but for now the dirt is working out well.