[Sadgit]

I have sand in an old washing up bowl and my girls completely ignore it... they would rather kick all the dirt from under a tree we have, onto the grass.. and "bathe" under there..

[poultrygeist]

I've just dug a small hollow to sit the tray in and not only did they think the circus had come to town with that to scratch in, but when i put the sand tray in they were fighting to get in and have a scratch and peck around in there.

I'll have to issue instructions on proper use...

ie, no running, jumping, bombing, pooing, etc.

Job's a good'un. Thanks for advice and comments.

Will post photos when I get time.

[slowef]

I gave mine a sand pit to play in but no they prefer my flowers :?

[poultrygeist]

We've got a fixed run which doesn't include anythign other than grass and concrete with bark chippings. I'm going to extend it and wonder if we should include a bit of shrubbery. I know they'll treat it like a vandal would treat a phone box but it'd make their lives a bit more interesting.

I've found that by moving things around in the run and just adding a new log or something, they get hours of entertainment from it.

[Sadgit]

We've got a fixed run which doesn't include anythign other than grass and concrete with bark chippings. I'm going to extend it and wonder if we should include a bit of shrubbery. I know they'll treat it like a vandal would treat a phone box but it'd make their lives a bit more interesting.

I've found that by moving things around in the run and just adding a new log or something, they get hours of entertainment from it.

you have grass in the run? how the hell have you kept it grassy?? as mine lasted about 2 weeks before it was all gone

[Selkie]

We've had ours hens (only 2) in the same run since March/April and it's only now really that the grass is going.

It is pretty big though and I've not fenced off the bottom 1/3 and am transplanting clumps of grass into it.

[Sadgit]

I've found that by moving things around in the run and just adding a new log or something, they get hours of entertainment from it.

chuck in a cat and watch them totally ignore it

[poultrygeist]

We've only had them 5 days !!

Give it another week and it'll be a muddy rectangle. I've put some corrugated plastic over half of it which I hope will ease the sogginess but I'm sure they'll soon denude it of grass.

One thing we're trying is piles of bark chippings here and there which they scratch around in and gradually spread over the grass. It seems to be helping. Hopefully the grass can survive a bit longer til I can extend the run a few metres.

[poultrygeist]

chuck in a cat and watch them totally ignore it

Lol. Our cat ventured out the back door a couple of days ago, caught sight of them, froze for 30 seconds then legged it back indoors. Not been out since.

[Selkie]

Will post photos when I get time.

Yes please!!

[poultrygeist]

Will do rosemary. I've taken 2 and my batteries conked out.

Once they're re-charged and I've worked out how to post, I'll pop them on the photos thread.

Watch that space !

[Selkie]

Yay! That would be lovely, thanks in advance!!

[Sadgit]

chuck in a cat and watch them totally ignore it

Lol. Our cat ventured out the back door a couple of days ago, caught sight of them, froze for 30 seconds then legged it back indoors. Not been out since.

ha ha class.. my cat loves to stalk the girls, never gets to more than a foot or 2 of them. Once he did sniff the bum of one of them, until she turned round and whoosh he was off like a shot

[Selkie]

Two of our cats seem to think they 'belong' in the hens run; Toby even eats their pellets sometimes :roll:

[poultrygeist]

Righto. I've got the photos on my PC.

Do I need to get them onto a photo sharing site before I can post them or is it simpler than that ?

 :?