What to put on ground of chicken run?

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

Gravel or limetone fines (small pebbles of limestone) work great you can rake it. Wood chips rot/mold and get muddy. For the limestone "set up" and stays put - yet I can rake it when needed.

 

[chickendude]

Will the chickens eat the pelleted lime?

 

[Lil Chickie Mama]

You should use rice hull!!! Please take them off our hands! Oh, and DE works wonders for smell and pests.

 

[JaciesCoop]

Sand, Sand, Sand! Doesn't get soggy, doesn't mold. Easy to turn and rake, keeps the smell down and they can dust bath in it anywhere in the run.
I also dust it with DE and then turn it.

 

[Troyerbuilding]

I just leave it grass. It doesn't stay that way for long. Sand sounds like a good idea.

I just extended their run so they have half grass and half dirt. Boy, they love the dirt still. They have a couple pits they lay in to cool off. They would love sand for that.

 

[Peeplperson]

I started out with dirt, and find that I keep adding sand. To fill in holes from 'dirt-bathing' erosion, and where water pools. I live in No. Cal and haven't had any rain since I got the chickens (mid-April) so I'm wondering what will work best once the rainy season starts. From what I read here, I'm thinking sand, sand, and more sand.

 

[chickbliss7]

I live in Northern Cal also--Sonoma side. I have a sand side of the pen, which stays drier, and the straw side, which gets the rain from the wind coming up the hill. We just took off the plastic top and added a second run, and both will now have a composition roof. I can't let the chickens roam as we have too many predators. Fortunately, we don't have below-freezing temperatures, but we have plenty of very hot days.

I always thought lime was a bad thing to get on yourself? I have a fly trap hung nearby, which takes care of those pests, and I clean their run and coop every day, so we don't have any trouble with smell.

Maybe I can get the local landscaping material company to make a mix of sand, peat and dirt, but I don't know what percentages I should ask for; one-third each?

 

[kcfuerst]

Sand Sand and more sand!!! Did I say I vote for sand? Gotta have sand! Sooo easy to clean.

I made a "sifter" out of two wooden fence stakes and nailed some 1/4" hardware cloth to it and when I rake up stuff I just throw it on the Nifty Sifter, give it a couple of good shakes. Only the poo stays on board and then it gets dumped into a bucket.

Nine hens provide 2.5 gallons of poo each week for the compost pile. Don't have to throw away anything except the poo. Yahoo!

Nice.

 

[ERnoleGuy]

My Florida Beach Chickens & I vote for:

Sand

Sand

Sand

Sand

Sand

I live in wet, hot, humid FL and originally started with Hay. Well that lasted about 2 weeks before I couldn't stand it anymore. Scratch grains and treats would sift their way to the bottom, get wet, germinate, die, and MOLD. Which can be really bad for the chickens. I do still have a portion of my run (under my elevated coop) that is hay, but the most of it is sand. I absolutely love the sand. Besides, I grew up on the beach, so hanging out with my chickens is like a day at the beach (... with poo everywhere... which isn't really that different from getting poo'ed on by seagulls, lol) Also, sprinkle some DE down everywhere.

 

[JaciesCoop]

Quote:
That sifter is a great idea!!