What to use in the run...

[yellowchicks]

In our 4' x 6' covered run, we put down 1" deep of pine shaving, purchased from either Walmart or the local feed store, it last a good 4 to 6 months, just keep raking it to mix in with the chicken poop, add some more pine shaving when necessary. The girls stay in this attached run most of the time. It currently has a good 6" deep of bedding materials.

We have another uncovered run, about 25' x 5' of bare dirt area with wire fence. I raked up all the Dogwood flower petals, dry grass, pine needles, dead leaves, etc., just throw them in the run. This area gets wet, sometimes flooded, some area is just have bare ground for now. The worms come up from underground, it is a playground for the girls when they want to have a change of scenery during the day.

The deep litter bedding material will build up quickly over time as you throw more material in to neutralize the chicken poop.

 

[biteme2134]

So really I could take my wheel barrel into the woods and just take loads of whatever I can haul to the run? Do you sift anything? Or just take sticks leaves and needles and dump them all in the run? Seems too easy to fix the mud problem....

 

[bigbruce]

Pine bark nuggets work well

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

If you don't have materials on hand, straw is a good way to get a deep litter going. It is usually pretty cheep, we pay 4 dollars per bale and you should get an acceptable coverage depth from 3-4 bales. once you have that down, then anything you would put into a compost heap can go into the deep litter. As the chooks scratch around they will mix everything up and if you simply keep adding materials you will have great compost that you can remove and then add new materials. We use straw mostly because it is cheep, easy for us to get and it works really well for amending our soil in the gardens and orchard.

 

[MountainOrchard]

Pine bark nuggets work great. They take a little longer to break down than other things I've tried.

 

[monkcat]

So really I could take my wheel barrel into the woods and just take loads of whatever I can haul to the run? Do you sift anything? Or just take sticks leaves and needles and dump them all in the run? Seems too easy to fix the mud problem....

yep. It might take more at first because of the mud. And some people are using the straw. My coop does have some areas that are muddier than other sections. I just put more there. we have had a tremendous amount of rain. Literally, 7 to 8 inches in one afternoon. Usually, my coop is not that wet. So it is not a chronic problem for me.otdad in their more problems with my dad in their coop, may have different / better Solutions in a chronically wet problem area.

 

[biteme2134]

We have tons of pine needles but u seem to remember trying to use them to soak up some of the mud last year and it didn't seem to help. I only did it in a small area so maybe that's why. I'm thinking of getting 5 or 6 bags of shavings I use bedding in my brooders and covering that with leaves and junk from the forest floor. Guess it's worth a shot...

 

[monkcat]

I think from what I've read the difference in sizes and textures is what helps it work. The pine needles, the leaves etc all mixed up is what helps keep it aerated. I would imagine just pine needles alone wouldn't work as well. I'm hoping to get a truck load of tree/wood chips soon. Will throw that in the mix as well.

 

[16 paws]

I have been using straw in my run now for a while. I always hated it when it rained because the smell was so bad and I could see that there was mold on the straw. Boy did it stink! I took out all the straw and now I use coconut mulch. It is shredded coconut shells. It feels like you are walking on carpet. Not hard at all. We just had some rain and I love how it dries out quickly and does not mold. No smells what so ever! I would not use any kind of gravel. I agree it would be too hard on their feet. Remember they are walking around on it all day.
Good luck and I hope this helps someone.

Marie

 

[16 paws]

An example in the coop.

What a cute picture, they look so content.