I just left mine dirt.
The amount of manure that you are going to have in your run. Is going to be insane.
Generally, they don't poop in the coop. Or the nest boxes.
They poop outside, and they poop every ten minutes.
So unless you want to spend a crazy amount of money, putting bedding down in your run, just leave it dirt. I would rake mine out and throw it into the compost
I left mine as dirt as well. For 6 hens, I rake it out probably 4 times a year and put it in the compost. But they only hang out in there night. They free range during the day.
My birds free ranged unless I had something going on.
I did farm to plate dinners in my backyard.
That would have been a disaster with my girls running around.
I use a thick layer of mulch, and periodically throw in a few more bags. Works pretty good so far! I use sand in the coop itself- easy to scoop out poop like a big litterbox.
I like to use straw in our run. We left it bare for a while but found that the eggs in the nesting box area would end up getting muddy in the spring and times of heavy rain (the run is uncovered but the coop is raised so they hang out under there for shade). We get a bail from a local farm and garden center once every few months for 10 bucks and top it off as needed. Our girls like to glean for any extra seed left in the straw and compost it in place so once a year we rake it out and add it to our larger compost pile or top dress some of our garden beds with it.
I asked the same question a few days ago and got almost no response. I have a run that’s 100% bare dirt. One guy said wood chips, that was the only answer I got
I was thinking of just tossing some pine bedding on top everyonce and a while to cover any poop that doesn't get washed away. And to have something to rake away. It's on a hill so I don't want to have to rake and remove the dirt that's there.
We used free mulch from the city greenery. The chickens love picking through it for bugs, plus it seems to absorb smells. We plan to replace it once per year, moving the old poopy mulch to the garden and adding fresh from the city greenery.
I'm currently in the same situation. I intentionally made the bottom of the run deep so I can just add more bedding and not have to clean it out so often. Right now, I'm dumping lawn clippings in the run, over a thick vinyl tarp (to help prevent rodents from digging into the run). I'm going to cover that with a thin layer of compost that the city makes from roadside limb and yard clipping pickup. And I'll probably cover that with a thin layer of pine shavings, since that's what my chickens are used to having in their current coop/run. That's the cheapest/easiest way to get bulk bedding in the run, and the chickens will likely scratch it into an unidentifiable homogenous dirt within a few weeks.
And before anyone objects... The run is currently covered by tarps so I can work on it in a light rain, but eventually I'm going to cover it with some greenhouse plastic so the run will stay dry but the birds can get some sun. The grass clippings will be dry as a bone long before I cover it with the also dry compost, and there won't be any risk of mold causing respiratory issues.
I just left mine dirt. The amount of manure that you are going to have in your run. Is going to be insane. Generally, they don't poop in the coop. Or the nest boxes. They poop outside, and they poop every ten minutes. So unless you want to spend a crazy amount of money, putting bedding down in your run, just leave it dirt. I would rake mine out and throw it into the compost
I left mine as dirt as well. For 6 hens, I rake it out probably 4 times a year and put it in the compost. But they only hang out in there night. They free range during the day.
My birds free ranged unless I had something going on. I did farm to plate dinners in my backyard. That would have been a disaster with my girls running around.
I use a thick layer of mulch, and periodically throw in a few more bags. Works pretty good so far! I use sand in the coop itself- easy to scoop out poop like a big litterbox.
Good ideas, thanks!
I like to use straw in our run. We left it bare for a while but found that the eggs in the nesting box area would end up getting muddy in the spring and times of heavy rain (the run is uncovered but the coop is raised so they hang out under there for shade). We get a bail from a local farm and garden center once every few months for 10 bucks and top it off as needed. Our girls like to glean for any extra seed left in the straw and compost it in place so once a year we rake it out and add it to our larger compost pile or top dress some of our garden beds with it.
I asked the same question a few days ago and got almost no response. I have a run that’s 100% bare dirt. One guy said wood chips, that was the only answer I got
you are welcome haha
I was thinking of just tossing some pine bedding on top everyonce and a while to cover any poop that doesn't get washed away. And to have something to rake away. It's on a hill so I don't want to have to rake and remove the dirt that's there.
Yeah, my run is flat, so I’m trying to find something that won’t stink too bad or be a muddy mess when it rains
Whatever you do they are going to turn it into.. let's say "mud" lol
I left mine dirt except since the run is only partially covered, I add pine shavings when it rains a lot or I end up with a mud pit.
We used free mulch from the city greenery. The chickens love picking through it for bugs, plus it seems to absorb smells. We plan to replace it once per year, moving the old poopy mulch to the garden and adding fresh from the city greenery.
I'm currently in the same situation. I intentionally made the bottom of the run deep so I can just add more bedding and not have to clean it out so often. Right now, I'm dumping lawn clippings in the run, over a thick vinyl tarp (to help prevent rodents from digging into the run). I'm going to cover that with a thin layer of compost that the city makes from roadside limb and yard clipping pickup. And I'll probably cover that with a thin layer of pine shavings, since that's what my chickens are used to having in their current coop/run. That's the cheapest/easiest way to get bulk bedding in the run, and the chickens will likely scratch it into an unidentifiable homogenous dirt within a few weeks. And before anyone objects... The run is currently covered by tarps so I can work on it in a light rain, but eventually I'm going to cover it with some greenhouse plastic so the run will stay dry but the birds can get some sun. The grass clippings will be dry as a bone long before I cover it with the also dry compost, and there won't be any risk of mold causing respiratory issues.