[looe-looe-belle]

  Hello everyone!

As I am new to this could anyone tell me...when the coop with integral run is put into my garden in the selected space....do I put anything on the floor of the run?...at the moment it will be just short grass.
Also...what do I put inside the coop?...is it sawdust? or straw?
And the same goes for the nest boxes....what goes inside the nest boxes?...just straw?

Also, how often should the whole thing be cleaned out?...I am guessing once a week?

And can anyone tell me a good cleaning regime?

Thanks for all your help!!

[Beano]

I can just tell you what we have done.
Nothing on the run floor, there's grass and it gets moved whenever the grass is gone. That is not that often as they have a large part of the garden fenced off for them (besides the run) which they spend all day in.
We have cut a square of lino for the coop floor and have put wood shavings on that.
In the nest boxes we have wood shavings on the base and some straw on top.
All this makes cleaning very easy which I do once a week. I will poo pick the nest boxes if they get mucky between cleaning. When I clean every week I dust some mite powder on the floor under the lino and on top, between the lino and wood shavings. Every 3/4 months I clean with jeyes fluid.
I've had no complaints from the ladies so far.
Hope this helps.

[Mulberry1990]

Chickens like to be on grass to grub around in, so nothing there.
In the coop and nest box we use a product called Hemcore. You can get it in most pet places.
We use it for two reasons, firstly wood-shavings: the bits of dust will get into your birds respiratory system and you will notice them sneezing, and Straw: is a common carrier of red mite, which you really don't want to get in your hen house!
We started off with wood-shavings and straw before we found out these two things, and were having to clean the chickens out every two days otherwise they stunk! But now they're on hemcore, we clean them out fully every week or so, and they stay clean! Hemcore is also biodegradable so can go on your compost, and it clumps when dirty so is easy to clean!

[Mulberry1990]

Also forgot to put! your grass will soon get filthy so it's best if possible to move the run around onto new grass every few days, otherwise you will notice your birds feet getting really dirty which can cause infection.
And when you clean them out make sure you scrape any dirt off the wood, especially the perches. We use a paint scraper for this!
Every few times you clean them out i'd suggest spraying the coop with a redmite dust, as if you get these in your coop it will be very difficult to get rid of them.

[looe-looe-belle]

 ;)Thats excellent information!!! Thanks a lot everybody!!!! x

[sally10]

Hi there,
There was a post on here the other day about cleaning a top tip that I picked up from it was to put some newspaper under the sawdust so it is easy to pick up the droppings !

sar

[GrannieAnnie]

We only use shavings as hollow straw can also encourage mould growth which can lead to aspergillosis.  Most bags of shavings are dust extracted, so shouldn't pose a problem, but never hay or sawdust!

[ynysmonron]

I have been using Hemcore but have found a product called Rapport, it is made by the same people and is only half the price.

[LilRed]

Hi, I've not had chickens very long, but someone suggested Ecopetbed. Its like squares of cardboard, and it's supposed to break down in the compost in 2 weeks, which I will definately update as soon as I know. It's dust free and does keep the odours at bay. It's not cheap but a large bag should last quite a long time as they say it fills a wheelie bin. I put straw in their nest box. Hope this helps x

[nicky d]

On my coop floor under the perches i just place newspaper, easier for the morning when i let them out i just lift out the old newspaper,  the nest boxes are blocked off at night.   In the nest boxes them selves i was using shavings but i found them very messy to use especially cleaning out,  i was in the pet shop and i bought this stuff, called Carefresh Small Pet Bedding (http://www.petsathome.com/shop/small-pet-bedding-by-carefresh-16108+)  hens dont seem to mind it, they laid there eggs no problem this morning, i will see how i go on it.   nickyx

[Sassy]

If you aren't able to move your hen house round a lot of folk on hear use woodchips (your grass won't last very long). Then they rake it up from time to time and replace it.