run flooring

[oldstaff]

hi all
whats the best thing to make a run floor, its soil at the moment and ive looked at all the posts and am still confused lol, would fresh woodchips be ok or am i running a risk of importing redmite? they have a 6'x4' shed with external nest boxes, a covered secure 10'x6' run which has a soil floor where the drinkers, feeders and dust bath is and a large fenced area 20'x12' (escapable but it doesnt matter as the garden proper is fenced securely and the dogs are always in the side garden keeping mr fox at bay) which again is soil, whats the best thing to stop the covered run getting muddy in this wet weather? its a rented farm so concrete or pavers is a no go and shoud i just leave the uncovered soil area? there will be 6 large fowl hens and a couple of cocks max. im thinking of putting rapport in the shed and nest boxes.

 

[Stapfam]

The 10x6 run area would be possible to cover with corrugated plastic at not a great expense. This would keep it fairly dry but driving rain in wind will cause some problems- or the storms we had last winter did cause my run to Flood. I have a soil floor and I have found this best for me. I fork over about half the run each month so it all dug over every couple of months and this provides drainage- dust baths and no smell. I do get a cap of hard soil and Poo build up on the half I have not dug but that is removed in layers and composted before I dig it over.

 

[Marigold]

I agree with Stapfam about the plastic roof helping, you as well as the birds because it will be much more pleasant underfoot if it's not constantly rained on. Yes the driving rain coming in the sides is also a problem, which can be reduced if you fit guttering along the low side of the roof slope, draining either to a butt or a soakaway. I found my roof was ineffective without this as the rain just ran down and blew in sideways leaving only a small area of run dry. I also fixed clear plastic tarp round the sides of the end facing the worst of the weather and this helped enormously, making that end wind proof as well as waterproof.
As for the floor, yes you can dig it over as Stapfam suggests, but the birds will still scratch up earth and poo into whatever bedding you use on top, and and an alternative is to cover the earth with landscaping fabric well pegged down and then bedding of your choice on top. This will still get dirty from poo of course but won't get earth mixed in as well and then you can poo pick daily removing dirty wood hip or whatever you use, and topping up or replacing when needed. Provide a container for a dust bath as well.

 

[Sue]

Last year we made panels with a wooden frame and corrugated plastic to go all around the three sides of our covered run (15' x 6') and attached them with plastic ties so they could be removed easily in the spring. This kept the inside of the run wind and rainproof as the rain was just blowing in and getting it soaked. The food was getting soaked as well and I was wasting so much, having to change it completely every day. I do have a paved base, but use hard wood chips on top and poo pick several times a day. It stays fairly clean and doesn't smell. Obviously I lose some wood chips every time I poo pick, so have had to top it up once in 18 months. The soil run outside has a mixture of pea gravel and hard wood chip on top. I didn't put the membrane down on top of the soil, because they like digging. This drains well even though it is on level ground and obviously gets washed regularly when it rains (very regularly at the moment!!!!) This seems to be working well for me.

 

[bantiekeeper]

Our setup is similar to Sue's. We have a covered run to which we can clip on side panels made from a wooden frames covered with corrugated sheets.
This means we only need to fit them on the sides open to wind and rain. Keeps the inside dry but also allows for plenty of ventilation.
Works very well for us.

 

[oldstaff]

excellent thank you, they have a huge porcelain shower tray that im going to put dust bath stuff in (some DE soil etc) so think i will leave as soil for now as it is quite well drained, the roofs going to be sheeted but in tin sheeting and i think ill just leave the uncovered area as soil and see how we go. thinking about the clip on panels, have some for the backs of the kennels to stop the rain coming in but they do tend to make the kennels a little stuffy, the wind and rain mostly will come from one side as the others are protected to some extent by trees and a 5 foot hedge and theres the post and rail fence with boards on, if i put another row on the other side of the rail it should stop the rain while allowing air to circulate. ty all very much