RUN FLOORING

[Anonymous]

Can anyone help me only our chickens run is only soil and a little bit of grass thats left. I have read somewhere that soil isn't any good for them because if it rains and the run gets muddy it can cause foot problems for the girls is this true and if so what could we use instead on the floor ?. I have thought of pea size pebbles would they be any good ? would the chickens try to eat them and what if they poo on them how would i clean that up would be a lot harder.Can anyone help please .

Thanks booty.

 

[Marigold]

Hi Phil,

You're quite right, mud is a nightmare both for the chickens and for you in wet weather. This topic has been posted recently, under 'Suitable flooring for run', (see a few posts down on the list), with some ideas you might like to consider.

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Phil,
We resorted to bark chippings when our runs got muddy (it was free which influenced our decision). About 3 to 6 inches of it. It gets topped up occasionally as it rots down and I take the big poos off the surface in the morning about 10 minutes after letting the hens out (smelly job). It doesn't stay neat for long. They scrape it up and throw it all over the place and we have to rake it back over. Pebbles are no good as they mix with poo and turn into a slurry in rain -tried that. Friend of ours has a 10 foot square covered run. He buys a bale of Aubiose every month and spreads it over the whole area. He then digs it all out and composts it or throws it into the Council brown bin (which then needs cleaning out). He has a small neat garden so is prepared to spend that amount of time and money. We also tried lightly sloped paving slabs which look horrible and get caked in poo which has to be scraped off with a steel tool- not nice for their feet and very cold in winter.

 

[bantiekeeper]

Hi Phil, My setup is similar to chrismahon but I use 3-6" of woodchip which we get free on the allotment. It is easy to poo pick and can be raked level. The run is covered and stays nice and dry so I sprinkle Stalosan on top every few weeks to freshen it up and replace it when new woodchip comes in. Before I put the new in I lightly dig over the earth floor and apply another dusting of Stalosan to keep the nasties down. When I have some, I put a thin layer of Aubiose on top of the wood chip and this makes it even easier to poo pick because it clumps together better. All the old stuff goes on the compost heap!