what to use outside

[rita2paul]

i am having trouble making up my mind what is best for the flooring, i have a run which is partly covered and i have another run attached which is outside so the rain gets to it, part of it is laid to grass the part is a mess, what will be the best floor cover to use, wood bark, wood chipping, gravel, slabs or just dirt. any suggests please. the space all in all is about 30 feet.

 

[CCUK]

Ditto Dat^^^

Aged and mixed with other materials are key.
Too much of any one material can cause problems,
like a wet slimy mass of anaerobic gunk.
Best to have a mix of sizes, shapes, types of dried plant material.
Green, or wet, materials should be used sparingly until you have a good balanced base built up.

This is what I started with, power company trimmings, chipped and aged for 6 months. A buddy had dozens of loads of this dumped on his land, some was mostly hardwood, some was mostly pine The larger wood does not break down quickly,
the more fragile parts(leaves, straw, hay, dried grass) will need to be replenished as they break down, added sparingly and watched to keep balance of mix good.

Hope this helps

 

[rita2paul]

thank you for your advice.

 

[Johnny98]

Knowing your location would help a little.

Around here long leaf pine straw (pine needles), it's abundant, free in your yard or cheap from stores and CL type people. It stays dry on top and composts nicely in a run.

 

[rita2paul]

lucky you, i live in England with lots of rain. i bet the pine needles give off a lovely smell. still not sure what to get. i thought of bark but i heard that could go mouldy.

 

[Johnny98]

lucky you, i live in England with lots of rain. i bet the pine needles give off a lovely smell. still not sure what to get. i thought of bark but i heard that could go mouldy.

We get our rain 4" + at a time, and then some more. We pretty much live in a pine forest, I think I remember it smelling when we first moved here but I can't tell anymore.

I would bet the chickens will turn over the bark enough that mold wont be much of an issue. Pile it in in nice and deep for drainage, enough so you can't see standing water and your birds will be happy campers.