Wheat Straw in run?

[Angie McMahan]

It's been raining here a lot lately...Having a hard time keeping my run dry. A friend suggested I get a few bales of wheat straw. What are thoughts on this? Anyone currently use wheat straw in their run? I did manage to find some locally, (will pick up on Saturday) but it wasn't easy! Hardly anyone has it!

 

[MotherHen1234]

In my experience straw will be nice for a few days until it gets wet then starts to rot and mold which leads to a horrible smell and a huge colony of flies. I use river sand in mine.

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

Wheat straw can work well but you have to watch it when used in a run. I've used it for wet periods and once the sky isn't spitting anymore I fork it up and put it into a compost heap. You can also use hay (if you can get it cheap enough) and the hay will probably put off some seeds (my chooks manage to eat all of the hay seeds so I never seem to get any green advantage). If you use either, be sure to tamp it down at least once a day, that keeps things from getting smelly and gross.

 

[snow5164]

It will get moldy, I wouldn’t bother using it.

A bale or two of shavings , frame a part of run fill with sand then shavings ,

I have sand in coop when we change it out it goes into run , I love sand

 

[MotherHen1234]

Same. I love sand too

 

[Lonesome Dough]

My run covered with wheat straw is completely dry and it's almost all shade, I don't understand the folks saying it gets moldy. The girls churn it up scratching and pecking and make beautiful mulch out of it, in three months they've been using the run I've only changed it once. I do supplement with grass clippings once a week and they eat most of that but some mixes with the straw.

 

[lazy gardener]

Any kind of straw will be fine to use in the run. Do a thread search for deep litter management. Many of us keep our runs covered with deep litter. It essentially creates a nice rich spongy compost that: attracts beneficial insects, worms, bacteria and fungi to help balance the soil, helps to keep pathogens in check, improve the gut flora of your birds, thus improving their digestion and immune system. Gives them a job to do as they go to work churning that material into compost while they search out the insects and other goodies. It also keeps your run from turning into a mud pit or dust bowl.

The one warning I give against using straw, or even commercially purchased hay is this: Many farms are using some highly toxic herbicides in their fields/crops that can persist in the straw/hay for a very long time. In the case of hay: these newer herbicides are taken up by the hay, pass through the stomach of the cow and into the manure. The manure is used for compost or in the garden of an unsuspecting gardener,, who then can't figure out why his tomato leaves are stunted, curled and yellow. These herbicides can ruin an otherwise productive garden for years. KNow where your materials are coming from and how they have been handled.

 

[blackdog043]

How big is your run? Straw won't stay nice very long if it keeps getting wet and you will have to replace it. I would use deep litter, plain wood chips or mulch(not shavings). Do you use mulch in flower beds? Notice how the water drains down through the mulch, that's what would happen in your run and it won't be a muddy mess.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Deep litter is great, but I have never been able to put enough in my 300+ sq. ft. run for it to be able to build up. It rots & just makes the dirt deeper! I will be changing my run around shortly & have to get my kennel panels out of the mess. Will try harder with the leaves in the fall, but straw, plants leaves & sticks have all gone down to nothing with the wet summer we have had. the best area is their inner pen that has a lot of sand in it. Dries out quickly. I don't understand why straw would mold any faster than wood.

 

[lazy gardener]

Deep litter is great, but I have never been able to put enough in my 300+ sq. ft. run for it to be able to build up. It rots & just makes the dirt deeper! I will be changing my run around shortly & have to get my kennel panels out of the mess. Will try harder with the leaves in the fall, but straw, plants leaves & sticks have all gone down to nothing with the wet summer we have had. the best area is their inner pen that has a lot of sand in it. Dries out quickly. I don't understand why straw would mold any faster than wood.

Cindy, it takes time, and A LOT of materials. My run is 500 s.f. It has taken more than 3 years to get a good DL covering over the run. Almost all of our lawn clippings get added to the run. Every fall, I put in a mountain of garden debris. I do partial clean outs of the coop to add to the DL. In the fall, I take the truck to a neighboring town which offers curb side leaf pick up. I arrive before the municipal crews and steal the leaves. About 3 trips will net me enough leaves for coop, run and garden needs. I have some bags stored away that are now 4 years old. The contents have decomposed to a nice black leaf mold which is awesome in the garden. I'm finding that every time I open one of those bags this summer, it comes with a bonus gift: a nice big garter snake.

I need to get busy and collect some more wood chips. This is one amendment that I have been neglecting to add to the run.