What floor covering do you use in your run ?

[jayjay giant]

My chicken pen is 20ft x 12ft and the grass was demolished in days by my 8 hens. I now use straw as a floor covering and this is around 6inches deep. I rots down pretty quicly and i tend to rake one half out and refill it with fresh every 2 months. This rotting straw and muck is then used to mulch the vegetables or rotted down further and used as a great compost/fertiliser ( Even sold to other vegetable growers ). I don't get any smell from the run but sometimes get a few flies in the summer.

Does anyone else use this method ?

Or do you have any success using other methods ?

[shirlthegirl43]

When we patch up the shed and move the hens, we will divide their run in half and make two popholes. The aim is for them to use one half run at a time. Not sure how it will go so a wait and see strategy is in operation At the moment, they paddle in mud for the morning then get out in the garden in the afternoon.

[poppy_lillysmum]

Hi,I have 9 hen, in a large run, and there were paving slabs down which i took up, and when it get a bit to muddy and i'm slipping and sliding about, i put down shavings, as this soaks up the water really quick, and if there is any smell it absorbs it as well. I Also use shaving in the winter to deep litter the chooks, hoping that it gives them a bit of extra warmth, not sure if this is right though

[Dane End Dolly]

We have an inner and outer run.

Both the runs used to have sand, but as our chickens were originally on mash they threw it everywhere and it started to whiff a bit (we were told it is the food rotting in the sand). We have now changed our chickens to pellets to try and stop the waste and the smell.

We have dug up all the sand from the outer run and put it on our allotment as our soil is clay and it will help that. We have now got bark that is made from the whole branch (not just the outer coating of the tree) and laid that down. We will be tackling the inner pen as soon as the weather warms up a bit and do the same.

When you get chickens, no one warns you about the smell.

I am not confident the new bark will help the smell as i am sure i smelt something last night, but i am not sure if it is the sand in the inner pen.

anyone else have problems with smells.

[lynda66]

anyone else have problems with smells.

yup ....... but then i do have 6 chooks in my living room lol

[kirsty b]

It sounds as though we have similar size runs and I lay down straw too. Works for me.

[Suechooks]

I've got 2 runs used alternately.I use pallet tops near the entrance under the sheltered area where the girls congregate and put wood chippings (delivered free to the allotment by our local tree surgeon) on top then straw in the cold or wet weather. This way I avoid muddy areas around the gate and its easy to clear the top layer off or I can lift the pallet tops for a thorough job. Have tried other ways and this is definitely the best so far. Everything then goes on the compost heap and back on to the lottie. When the run is "resting" I let the grass grow back without pallet tops down.

[Snadger]

Straw works for me also! Part of my run is covered and part isn't. What I tend to do is clean out the nestboxes which have straw in them and throw this onto the outdoor run for them to scrat into. The covered portion usually gets fresh straw at the same time I re-fill the nestboxes.

[Sue]

Hi
Just switched to Aubiose, the horse bedding made from hemp. Pleased with it so far - costs £6.99 for 20kg. I put down 20kg in a 9x9ft run and it's easy to poo-pick and keep topped up. Buying straw and woodshavings was costing me over £7 a week and this looks as if it will halve my costs at least.
Hens seem to like it and it makes a good thick layer for scratching about in. Having always kept the ground covered in a thick layer of shavings, it's soft but not muddy, but then I do have a roofed run.
No smells and the promise of quicker break down on the compost heap.
Sue

[MaureenHall]

Mine's a mixture of allsorts! Easibed if it's really mucky to soak up the water, and straw that the little devils have chucked all over the place! Don't think it's stinky, and when I rake it all over, it goes straight onto the compost heap where the little devils rake it all out again! (Must remember to bag it all up and take it to the lottie compost heap)

[knittywittywoo]

I only have 2 at the moment. In the house I have shavings and straw and in the run I also put down shavings and straw. It's easier to clean up, keeps the ground slightly drier and gives them something to scrat through.

[vicky]

A horse bedding which is a mix of chopped straw and wood shavings. The worst smell was when it was grass/mud.