Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: needssomehelp on February 04, 2011, 11:12
-
i have read so many posts on this subject but im still none the wiser to what is the most popular material to use on the run floor. so i thought a poll will help people see at a glance what is the most used substance.
i dont think there is a poll on this subject but if there is feel free to remove this one x x
-
You haven't got one for mud Lisa! :D Our runs are a bit big for the other things, it would cost a fortune, and they ate all the grass!
-
You haven't got one for mud Lisa! :D Our runs are a bit big for the other things, it would cost a fortune, and they ate all the grass!
oh i wish i had a run that was to big, i envy you :tongue2: :lol:
-
mine don't have a run so can't help sorry :)
-
lol you wouldn't if you could see me when I pull my foot out of the mud and my wellie stays where it is!!! :lol:
Joy is lucky, her girls free range on GRASS!!!!! :D :D
-
I use concrete slabs covered with horse bedding for them to scratch around in. This works well for me but the run is covered and not too big.
-
lol you wouldn't if you could see me when I pull my foot out of the mud and my wellie stays where it is!!! :lol:
Joy is lucky, her girls free range on GRASS!!!!! :D :D
GRASS!!!Whats that then? :tongue2: :lol:
-
My girls have mud in their run too...have given up with anything other than that :blink:
-
Mine have bark chips but dig it around so they can get to................................the mud :lol:
-
I find sand topped with straw works great. :)
-
Ours are on mud at the momewnt, but we plan to put down woodchip before next winter, for drier feet (scaly and rubber-coated!) and chicken entertainment. We know it composts gradually over a couple of years so will just top it up each autumn
-
Lanscape bark chips in mine :)
-
Err ...................where's the grass option?
Anyone starting out with chickens needs to acknowledge that the only sustainable natural system of keeping chx requires a system of managed pasture which means rotating grass runs. Otherwise you need an artificial surface you can replace regularly.
You can reduce grass wear in back garden free range systems by having slatted walkways on woodchip close to a fixed house and particularly upto the pophole. This poll is unfortunately meaningless without some definition of what system of husbandry you are talking about.
HF
-
Slabs and then 3 black bags of fallen leaves, lasted absolutely ages in the covered run, then i dig em out, compost and put another 3 in. Collected 15 bags in the autumn, looked like a bit of a saddo from the side of the main road though! :tongue2:
steve
-
Mine are out in garden which just happens to be slabs and pea gravel with surrounding borders. They are happy and it's easy to clean and sweep. :D :D
-
Hi,
After months of trial and error, it got better once the run was covered!
I now use topsoil, which I just top up with bags I buy from B&Q, and can easily be dug over to keep it fresh :) An added bonus is that any leftover seed they dont eat, grows underneath the topsoil, and when I turn it over they munch the sprouting seeds :)
-
Grass...but at his time of year extremely short! I can't wait for it to start to grow again.
OL
-
I have tried shingle and bark chips on top of our soil, but neither has beene asy to clean, and both smelt more than was pleasant before they should have. So now I just have......mud! Which i dig over every month or so, and add more mud and gravel to. It is nigh on impossible to poo pick as I'm out all day, and the bark chips and shingle just got poo-ey. The mud is actually better!
-
My run is built on a higher level in our garden, so we dug down about 3 - 4ft, filled this with hardcore, then a thick layer of small stone/gravel then this get topped with play bark, which still turns to mud! about 3 or 4 times a year we dig out back down to the stone layer and add fresh bark.
-
I've used play bark in the past, now we use Bliss and the big chooks also free range
-
Everything in our garden gets shredded including branches and cuttings from the hedge and that goes into the chicks run. Every so often it gets raked up and recycled around the fruit bushes or into neighbours gardens.
I also get sacks of tree chipping from a local tree surgeon... the only downside to this is that I have to fill my sacks from his trailer myself :) He doesn't have to dump them himself so he is quite happy.
-
Everything in our garden gets shredded including branches and cuttings from the hedge and that goes into the chicks run. Every so often it gets raked up and recycled around the fruit bushes or into neighbours gardens.
I also get sacks of tree chipping from a local tree surgeon... the only downside to this is that I have to fill my sacks from his trailer myself :) He doesn't have to dump them himself so he is quite happy.
Just make sure there's nothing poisonous in it like yew and preferably compost it for a few months first.
HF
-
Leaving it in a plastic chick feed sack speeds up the process quite a lot.
Yew is not a problem round here... the strangest tree remains I have come across is Monkey Puzzle...