What's in YOUR run: sand, dirt, pine nuggets, etc?

[grahamgayle]

I use bags of oak leaves, collected in the fall. Makes great compost!

 

[patandchickens]

Whatever I have handy

All the runs, both the dirt-floored ones and the ones on slab, get "whatever's available" chucked into them on an as-needed or as-trying-to-get-rid-of basis. Raked leaves in the fall; hay sweepings and sometimes horse-stall cleanings in the winter; and lots and lots of nontoxic garden weedings/trimmings in spring and summer.

Pat

 

[Germangirlygirl]

The sand thing sounds like it works out well, I might have to try that too

 

[HappyChickenLover]

yea sand does work and is easy to clean, i like the nuggets cause of smell and provides bugs for them to eat

 

[sadies chicks]

Quote:
Pat, you say "nontoxic" garden trimmings, is there something out there that is harmful from the garden?

thanks!

 

[gumpsgirl]

I just have plain 'ole dirt here. I use agricultural lime whenever the ground starts stinking to kill the bacteria in the ground and freshen things up a bit. I put it down right before it rains and the rain does the rest. Works like a charm!

 

[GardenerGal]

My run is just dirt, except at one end I dug a pit that I filled and re-fill periodically with a combination of woodstove ashes and sand -- a dustbath pit. When mites and other skin varmints become a problem, I can add some Sevin dust and mix it into the blend. The sand keeps the ash and dust from blowing around, and gives the chickies something to "scrub" themselves with to remove varmints.

I sweep out the run regularly as needed to remove poop, uneaten scratch feed, debris and any stones that come to the surface.

 

[Knittycat]

I was going to go with sand, but the money ran out, and leaves were plentiful...so I've got my run filled with leaves! When I ran out of leaves in my yard, I started getting them from my neighbors. The chooks love digging through the leaves to find bugs. And it smells nice.

 

[georgiagail]

As of today, half a ton of sand; cost $7.50 at a local "fill the back of your pick up truck" place. Thank goodness he talked me out of a full load (he was worried what it would do to my small pickup ). It was quite a chore hauling it down to the run.

Gail

 

[GardenerGal]

Quote:
If the sand is damp, it weighs more than dry sand because of the extra water. But if it's dry, we have to cover the load or it will blow away on the drive home.

Sometimes I forget I just have l'il Ford Ranger. The local mulch guy refuses to sell me more than half a yard at a time if I'm going to haul it in the Ranger! Once I hauled a yard of pea gravel, and the flatbed almost bottomed out on a bumpy road.

After that, I listened to the mulch guy and only take half-yards of anything.