[rosegarden]

We have decided to have our house and run placed on concrete slabs rather than grass or soil and we are now thinking about what to put on the slabs in the run. We have been looking at Easibed- has anyone got any views on this? the run will be protected from the weather so should stay dry.  Also we were thinking of using HempBed-E on the floor of the coop - has anyone used this? any views would be appreciated since the arrival of the girls is getting closer every day!!!

[splash101]

I use easibed and its brilliant. I used to use dust free shavings but once they were wet, they stayed wet (and smelly).
I was a bit dubious about what it claimed to do but as it was the same price as the shavings (cheaper if i buy 3 bales) I thought I'd give it a go.
The moisture sinks to the bottom and the top layer stays dry. Even if the rain blows in the top layer soon dries.

You can use it in the coop as well.

You can also use it straight on top of soil. It wouldnt stay dry if it wasnt covered in the bad weather but it does stop the winter swamp feature in the garden.

There are a few similar products that go by different names.

[ANHBUC]

I have a similar set up and did use Nedz Bed Pro but the hens started eating it and I lost 2 of my girls due to blocked gizzards.     I think it can be a problem with many types of bedding so I only put bedding in their nest box now.  They do free range for a lot of the day so they get to scratch around and dust bathe as well.

Next time I need some more I will be giving Easibed a try.

[Mum2mj]

Hi, I use wood chips on concrete slabs in our run. Wood shavings/shredded paper/ straw for house & nest box. The wood chip in the run works really well for us. You can hose it, disinfect it & turn if & it composts easily too. Chooks love to scratch around in it as well

[JaK]

We use miscanthus in the run and in the house. It is fab stuff and not expensive either. I buy mine in for £6.60 a bale.

[Jomtie]

We use miscanthus on the run floor too. We thought it might blow around too much but it doesn't. It's really easy to rake through. The hens seem to like it and we're really happy with it. We use citrus Bliss in the coop and nest boxes as it's very absorbent and makes the coop smell nice and fresh.

[helens-hens]

I have used Easibed on concrete slabs for a while and it works well for us. Easy to poo pick & keep clean.