The Poultry Keeper

Lisa · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:40 pm Post subject:

Mojo - I love your spelling - please don't change on our account Very Happy

Yep, that's what I've been doing with the eggs - just before we use them.

I don't mind the mud (and I think its mud - don't find any poo in the nest box), but it would be nice to have them clean if I have any surplus to give away...

thewinkingtiger · Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 936 Location: East Yorkshire, UK

I don't have a run - so have the same problem without the chance of a solution LOL
Inside I use woodshavings in the general house with straw on top in the nest boxes.
We get huge bags of woodshavings (approx equivalent to 4 bin liners full) from the local council for nothing. Their joinery shop is always looking to give it away - so it may be worth checking out your local councils. If your council is commited to re-cycling like it should be - they should be pleased to give it away. (That is certainly our councils philosophy!)

Debs

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

I had my woodchips down for about a year ~ they are about half the depth they were, and are gradually breaking down now. If I hadn't had to find new homes for my girls, I was going to rake it all out (that's the royal 'I' you understand) and put it on the flower beds. Then give the girls new.
I got mine from the garden centre ~ I didn't take the time to source them properly, as I wanted to get the girls a cleaner run. Although I did find an ad for someone who delivered a load for £10. I think the ones I got from the garden centre were hard wood chips ~ dark brown.~ even darker now after their use.
Glad you got some for them.
I know what you mean about the straw ~ I put some of that in one area which caught the earliest sun and the girls all used to sit in it preening after they had eaten.

jooles · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:15 am Post subject:

Lisa, one bag just covered the ground over an area about 4' x 7'. Two bags would give about 2-3 inches depth over the same area. I haven't put it over the whole of my run because the area just in front of the coop always stays very dry and that's where they dust bath too so I've left a covering of chopped straw there. I don't suppose it will stay separate for long but still!

jooles · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:16 am Post subject:

Mojo - I love the way you put things Very Happy

mojo · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:37 am Post subject:

jooles....you mean i am differant to normal folks?

Attila The Hen · Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 440 Location: Shetland

I'm another advocate of the woodchips for small-scale chicken runs idea. The principle they work on is tried and tested in agriculture - woodchip corralls are very much in vogue at the moment for overwintering cattle outside. Important things to bear in mind (and the principles are the same for hens as they are for cows!):

# A good sized woodchip is far better than small ones - being bigger, they don't compost down so quickly, and allow water / faeces to drain down through them keeping the surface clean.

# Spread them as deeply as you can - again, it helps with waste removal and stops them becoming waterlogged or mucky.

When we lived in the south of England, we had a woochip area upon which our hen houses stood - it would have been too expensive to carpet their entire run, so we created 'raised beds' with planks to allow us to fill them some 1 foot deep with chippings. We deliberately left a lip of some 6" of plank above the surface to stop the hens from kicking the woodchips out of the bed.

The rest of their run still was muddy in places in the depths of winter, but they tended to stay on the woodchips (I wonder if this is instinctive and harks back to their orginal history as woodland understory foragers?), and if they went out to mooch around in the mud the walk back to the henhouses over the woodchips took the worst of the crud off their feet.

Over time the woodchips do break down, and as Summayah suggested, it makes a fine addition to the flowerbeds or veggie patch. We used to dig out and refill our woodchip area roughly every 18 months.

One final thought - I avoid straw like the plague where my hens are concerned - am always somewhat worried about damp straw and respiratory problems.

Attila

jooles · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:56 pm Post subject:

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

I know what you mean Attila about the girls kicking the wood chips out. When I first got my wood chips, they were always flying through the wire on the run. Then when I mowed it was flying missiles ~ everyone run for cover! So I stapled a piece of clear plastic 12" high all around the bottom of the run to stop that happening ~ it worked really well with the added bonus of keeping the wind out at the bottom.