[chuckmad]

I'm just looking for some general advice about keeping the coop and run tidy.
I have a big run about 4mx7m. Inside that I have little run that contains the coop Its really for keeping the hens in all the time but I wasnt happy with the lack of space.  There is a door on this run that I close up every night to keep them safe (no pop hole yet). But every morning they are in the smaller space (with lots of poo) until I let them out for brekkie.
I have the coop lined with news paper that I clean out every day.  I've heard lots of people say that they put sawdust/straw on the floor of the coop and the run.  Should I have one of these materials on the floor of the little run to make it easier to clean out, if so how much. Do I need it on the floor of the bigger area also.
Who knew hens would give us so much to worry about?

[Jeanette]

I use Hemcore for the coup but in the run i have bark that you can get easily from a well known place that begins with a B and ends with a Q. Some times they have special offers on the bark and the chickens love it. I just throw a couple of bags in to the run and they sort it out themselves.

[TeaPots]

sawDUST is a no no, woodshavings is fine, so is straw. I actually use a product called Hemcore in the main body of the coop (under the perches) and straw in the nestboxes. The actual run area I dust weekly with Stalosan, and occasionally douse with Jeyes fluid and turn the soil over.

I think we all have different ideas, but some, althought they look good when 1st layed down, get stinky and a health hazzard quite quickly. Wood bark for example, when it gets wet, can grow a mould whose spores can be lethal to chooks. Straw is good, but gets damp and Very smelly, so you would be raking it out almost daily.

[Craig69]

I have the house on slabs which i scrap every day & wash down with just water every 3 or 4 days.
Straw in the nest boxes & woodshavings on the floor of the house under the perch.
Outside run is mainly gravel which can get a bit smelly, bt because the run isn't unddercover i am looking to put something else down.

[bee]

Fairly new to hens, having only had them since last August. Tried straw for a while in the henhouse and it was ok. Then tried woodshavings - better but not so good at composting down. Had newspaper (whilst it was still warm) under the perches - easy to clean out but soon piles up as you need to clear it daily. Now onto hemcore since the last 5 weeks - and it's brilliant. Really absorbs well, lasts for ages, and the bale I bought for a tenner is going to last months.

In the run, which is covered, we have bark and wood chips. They're great,  and undercover last week, but I'm sprinkling with stalosan at least once a week now things are heating up. Absorbs damp and makes everything smell good again, and it's all disinfected.

[EJCTM]

I have tried aubiose, straw and wood shavings (Hunters or Natural) and have actually found the best bedding is "Bed Down" a mixture of shavings and chopped straw with an added anti-smell agent. Any droppings overnight are dry in the morning, and if you put a deep layer then you can turn it every day and it lasts for a couple of weeks between changes.

[GrannieAnnie]

We don't use straw because the stems are hollow and mould spores can form in the straw, possibly causing aspergillosis.  the only time I have sed it was when Joyfull gave me a bag of medibed, which is chopped up and has stuff added to prevent moulds from forming.

so like Teapots said, we all have our own ideas on what to use.  You use what you find best for you and the chooks!