[beulah59]

I understand that bracken is good as a bedding material too?

[AmandaH]

So grumpydad, can I just make sure I understand - in lieu of anything more complicated to get hold of, it IS ok to use bog-standard garden centre bark chips in outside runs, as long as it's not allowed to get smelly and nasty?

My girls don't spend much time in the run, they just walk through it on their way out to the garden, and back through it again at night back to their house, although their feeder and water is in there (raised off the ground on bricks) so they are in and out all day.

The house has Cozy Coop on the floor and in the nest box (with newspaper underneath) and I know not to put bark chips in the house.

Sorry to go on and on about this but just want to get it right - although I realise that I am risking making you more grumpy...  

[grumpydad]

lol.
inside the coop i have horse grade bedding, dust extracted wood shavings and hemcore, on newspaper under the perch, so i can remove the paper and poo.
same inside the nest boxes, both sprinkled with diatom and louse powder, and sprayed once a week with vikron to kill any loose bacteria.
my run is covered by clear corrugated sheeting to let the light in, and i have bark and chippings on the floor. feeder and water suspended from the roof, so i can hook the up at night, out of the way of vermin, poo picked most days, raked over when they have gone to bed every couple of days, and again vikron sprayed every week, just to try to keep on top of the bugs.
the chippings from the tree surgeon will last longer, but the bark, as long as it is dry, should not produce any harmful spores, but that is what the vikron is there to help with.

martyn

[AmandaH]

Thank goodness, I didn't get (Grumpy) Dad Speech #24 - "How many times do I have to tell you?"...

Many thanks for your help - think I know everything I need now.  I promise not to mention bark chips again!

[grumpydad]

lol
24 is about tidying your bedroom, again, but not for much longer..

martyn

[henrietta5]

I thought I had the hang of this enclosure thing but nope, I'm needing some advice again.  My enclosure doesn't have a roof.  Mainly because it was painstakingly put up one weekend by my OH and his design didn't really include a roof.  He was so chuffed that I didn't have the heart to mention the obvious missing bit.  I say obvious because living in Western Scotland, the rain is often constant for days.  I put down what I thought was a thick layer of B&Q type bags of bark.  About 4 inches deep.  The plan is to let the hens into the main garden a lot and in the run when I am away from the house.  However as the hens are still quite young, and some are not that happy to be handled yet, they are rarely in the garden - for fear of losing them through a neighbours hedge forever.  We (myself and children) are trying hard to get them used to being handled as we want them in the garden soon.  However, the enclosure (about 24m square) is becoming a muddy mess even with the bark.  I sort of thought the rain would drain through the bark and the top layer would stay in reasonable condition.  I am now worried the bark is getting toxic !  I have just been adding more on top but haven't actually replaced any of it.  Trying to poo pick on dark bark in torrential rain is a bit of a non starter.  I know I need a roof....but until then should I be completely replacing the bark ?  If so how often ?  How deep should it be ?  Any advice at all would be brilliant .  Thanks to everyone who takes time to respond to these postings.  I have 6 books on hen keeping but none answer these kind of questions 

[hillfooter]

Unfortunately the chx will scrat up the bark and it will inevitably become muddy.  One suggestion might help would be to use duck boards where they walk most intensively.  If you can get hold of some old lattice trellis with around 10 -15cm squares put this down on top of the bark this will stop them paddling the run.  Make sure there are no nails exposed.

If possible and the run is sufficiently narrow you can use a tarpaulin to keep it dry.

Regards

[henrietta5]

Thank you - I think I might have some as yet unused trellis in the garage - will give it a try as the rain just keeps on coming here !  Worried about disease build up if I don't replace the bark completely.  Have noticed other comments about fungal spores and disease in unpicked up poo etc - any advice on that aspect ?  Many thanks

[tode]

Hi Henrietta,
your run sounds about same size as ours, which is just earth + sand + gravel.
It sounds as if you've got no drainage in your run. Is it very flat? If so should try to work out a system for getting rid of water.

[grumpydad]

how about a couple of trenches filled with rubble or hardcore, maybe gravel for the water to drain into, like a soakaway ?

that would give your husband something to do when it was not raining.

martyn

[hillfooter]

Regular poo picking and keeping it from getting waterlogged and the ocassional  rake and spray with a weakish solution of Jeyes Fluid should prevent any problems.  Mould spores are unlikely to be a problem in the open air.

Regards

[henrietta5]

Thanks everyone - I think the drainage is a problem , so I'll try some of the methods suggested.  The rain is pretty awful here, we grow moss well and the garden has a healthy population of amphibians so that should tell me something.  However I will set OH to work on it when (if) the rain stops.  Thanks to you all

[dizzylizzie]

Hi everyone, we have a fairly large run that has bark on the ground.Only part of the run is covered, but the rest of it seems to cope well in the rain(and boy have we had rain :blink:) our girls have the garden to walk around in aswel , and i poop scoop/hose down every night so at the moment the bark seems to be fine. The other thing ive done is just add a bag of bark every now and then. i put quite a thick layer down for them coming home, then ive just popped a bag in the trolley at the local supermarket. it would be very expensive to replace the whole lot like this, but at 4quid a bag, in with your shopping you dont notice it, and it just keeps the level toped up. As regards them trashing the grass....well they have eaten everthing else, but our grass looks very healthy (so far) let you know what ts like after the winter lol

[peter o]

another idea is to use rubber chippings easy to wash, dont decay etc but they are expensive

[AmandaH]

Gosh.  The things you learn on here.  Rubber chippings.  I never knew there was such a thing.  I would be unsure as to where to buy them though - poultry supplier or Ann Summers?