What to use in the run?

[msmeg26]

I am seeing that sand is a favorite to some,
I am in SE Georgia, we are hot, humidity and downright swampy by August with frequent daily showers.

Current coop/run area I am letting just overgrow in grass/weeds until the little ladies come and grow big enough to forage. At some point the weeds and grass they will surely plow thru. I am thinking about providing them to screened "frames" where the grass can grow up thru and I can reseed with sunflower seeds, wheatgrass or some other grain.. but over all for the run, do you keep it dirt? sand? hay? alfalfa? Or what?

Undoubtedly with the scratch grains given as treats there's area for some germination of those items as well.

 

[DobieLover]

I am seeing that sand is a favorite to some,
I am in SE Georgia, we are hot, humidity and downright swampy by August with frequent daily showers.

Current coop/run area I am letting just overgrow in grass/weeds until the little ladies come and grow big enough to forage. At some point the weeds and grass they will surely plow thru. I am thinking about providing them to screened "frames" where the grass can grow up thru and I can reseed with sunflower seeds, wheatgrass or some other grain.. but over all for the run, do you keep it dirt? sand? hay? alfalfa? Or what?

Undoubtedly with the scratch grains given as treats there's area for some germination of those items as well.

Is your run covered to block most of the rain?
I use wood chips in my run. I get them for free from any one of the Towns around me.
I use a nice thick layer and the chickens love scratching around in it. The chips are small enough that they can move them around and large enough not to compact and cause mildew and mold.
If the chickens don't stir it up enough, you can use a hard rake to rake it out daily.

 

[msmeg26]

Is your run covered to block most of the rain?
I use wood chips in my run. I get them for free from any one of the Towns around me.
I use a nice thick layer and the chickens love scratching around in it. The chips are small enough that they can move them around and large enough not to compact and cause mildew and mold.
If the chickens don't stir it up enough, you can use a hard rake to rake it out daily.

Yes run will be covered.
Wood chips.. excellent idea! We have an area in town that does a pile for free, "help yourself"

 

[Melky]

In the summer, I use peat mixed with mulch since peat removes ammonia from manure better than any other product. Prevents ammonia toxicity in chickens along with zeolite to control odors and ammonia. In the Winter, I use straw for warmth and frostbite protection with Zeolite. I also spritz in some food grade DE and poultry protector to prevent. Keep fresh and dry.

 

[The Lazy L]

I am seeing that sand is a favorite to some,... do you keep it dirt? sand? hay? alfalfa? Or what?...

Sand

• The Lazy L
• Jun 19, 2012

 

[Firefoot]

In the summer, I use sand in the coop as it is super easy to pick -- basically a big litter box and I pick it daily. In the winter, the coop is pine shavings.

The run is wood chips delivered free from a local arborist and periodically I rake in dried leaves from the yard. This combination keeps it interesting -- lots of bugs and things to scratch at -- and when it's really wet I just rake it up into piles and sprinkle the ground with PDZ. I usually do that in the evening after they've gone to roost and they love scratching through the piles. It breaks down over time. Ideally, I would probably add a fresh layer of chips spring and fall. Most of my run is uncovered and gets snowed in, which they hate, so I put straw down and make paths for them if it's deep-ish snow, or just rake it about to expose the chips/leaves.

I don't muck my run, which I think I would have to do if it were all sand. The manure breaks down into the chips and leaves and the raking and scratching around prevents it from being a big issue. FWIW I live in the mid-atlantic and our summers are ridiculously humid and gross (comparable to GA -- used to live there, too). This set up has worked well for me!

Edited to add that whatever you do, DON'T have just exposed bare earth. That is the worst, hygiene-wise, and will be a total bog with any precipitation.

 

[aart]

I use wood chips in my run.

Ditto Dat...best thing for handling poops and rain water(oh, my run is not covered).

Here's my grazing frames, tho I use them less once I added more wood chips-hard to mix the two.

In the summer, I use peat mixed with mulch since peat removes ammonia from manure better than any other product. Prevents ammonia toxicity in chickens along with zeolite to control odors and ammonia. In the Winter, I use straw for warmth and frostbite protection with Zeolite. I also spritz in some food grade DE and poultry protector to prevent. Keep fresh and dry.

You have all that in your run? Am thinking you might have missed the title topic and it's all in your coop...even so, sounds over complicated.