[Dawnuss]

Was just googling hard wood chips for my run flooring and found some people use rubber chips the type you get in a horse arena. I am now curious if any of you guys use these or also if you know if these would harm chooks. It seems very practical but id it 

[Sassy]

There is a company doing rubber chippings specially for chooks, I have seen it advertised on a few occasions in the Country Smallholder but sorry I cannot remember their name. You could Google rubber chips for poultry/chickens. I don't see why they should be a problem as long as they are not so small the chooks can eat them! You would be able to hose them down and disinfect the area.

Most rubber chippings are recycled tyres so you do need to make sure that ALL the metal has been extracted.

[Dawnuss]

Ye cos i was googling run floor covering and found a lot of people use them. The only thing that conserns me is they wont absorb smell and i cant compost them but in theory they should last longer as like you say you can hose them down. Also does anyone have any experience with sand and if so what kind.

[New shoot]

I bought a couple of birds from a breeder who used a lot of rubber chippings in his runs, but he left some soil for the birds to scratch and dust bathe in under the hedges that bordered the runs.


He said it was very quick and easy to clean and had no problems with it harming birds, but they weren't scratching in it like they do woodchip.

You would need to either leave bare soil as he did, or supply additional amusement like a cabbage dangled on a string, to prevent boredom and the problems that can come from that 

[ANHBUC]

I tried kiln dried sand for my quail but found it attracts the moisture out of the air so ends up cold and damp quickly in this weather.

[andy46]

A guy in practical poultry mag has just put some in his run and wrote an artical about it. The mag is feb issue.

[pepsi100]

Hook farm sell them, I was thinking of using them myself, after the hens have eaten all the grass and weeds in the run, it becomes a bit like a bog, but when its dry, they use the dirt for a dirt bath, but as I dig it over every frew weeks/months I was wondering about it just being dug in, or should I just leave it  ?

They do sound a good idea, a bit better than wood chips or sand and a whole lot better than concrete slabs, Could they be used to cover them in the coop/hen house ?

Hook farm has lots of stuff, even some good courses, I'm thinking of going on them, its a good way, if expensive of spending a weekend, but if it makes me and my hens happier, it cant be all bad

http://www.chickenkeeper.co.uk/index.php