Sarah B Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi All, Would appreciate your advice. I'm sure various bits of this have been posted before but I have a few q's. We are coming up to 5 weeks this week with our chooks and even though we move the eglu and run every couple of days the areas of the lawn where they have been are now pretty well destroyed. I'm not too concerned about that but I have noticed tonight there is also now a bit of a smell from the poo and spilt pellets etc. We have therefore decided to place the eglu and run in one spot permanantly, we can't afford to build a big enclosed run but the girls do free range as and when. We are going to site it on a permanent spot on the lawn. Should we just put it on mud directly with auboise or is it better to build a concrete platform with auboise? What are the benefits of either solution? What are the advantages of using bark chippings? If on concrete how can you secure the run on it against predators? We work all day. If they have been used to scratching about on grass and then get bedding covered concrete is this mean? I'd really welcome your feedback with what you all do and reccommend? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imo Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi there We keep, and have always kept, our Eglu in one position. I spent a weekend clearing an area of what used to be undergrowth and bushes for the run to go on - so effectively, it was just placed on mud. We filled the whole thing with bark chippings. The advantages being that you can rake them over, the smell really nice when they first go in, and the chooks love scratching around in them I think it keeps the smells down too! And is easy to buy from the nearest garden centre. We have concrete slabs to create a path around the eglu so we can get to them easily - this keeps the foxes out! We do have to sweep up after them - they tend to like chucking the bark chippings out Never found it too much of a problem, but I know some people have said before that they've created almost a barrier around the outside to prevent bark chippings from being chucked out. Hope I've helped!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah B Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi there We keep, and have always kept, our Eglu in one position. I spent a weekend clearing an area of what used to be undergrowth and bushes for the run to go on - so effectively, it was just placed on mud. We filled the whole thing with bark chippings. The advantages being that you can rake them over, the smell really nice when they first go in, and the chooks love scratching around in them I think it keeps the smells down too! And is easy to buy from the nearest garden centre. We have concrete slabs to create a path around the eglu so we can get to them easily - this keeps the foxes out! We do have to sweep up after them - they tend to like chucking the bark chippings out Never found it too much of a problem, but I know some people have said before that they've created almost a barrier around the outside to prevent bark chippings from being chucked out. Hope I've helped!! Hi Imo, Thanks for replying. How often do you have to change the bark, you say you rake it over but I guess this is between complete changes. Also if you have slabs round the run to keep it secure I take it these have to be removed when you do a full bark change? Sorry to seem dim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi Sarah. I don't know if this helps at all but if you wait a few weeks for the weather to get better you may not need a permanent site till winter. Remember that the grass may not be growing yet or just about to (it needs to be a certain temperature before it grows/recovers). My lot arrived 12 April last year. I moved them along a bit every few days and poop picked each time. The lawn recovered after a week or so and was lovely and dark green. Then in Summer, I used my hosepipe to blast poops daily from the run and they "dissolve" into the ground. Really much much easier than at the moment with the horrid weather we've had. But, as soon as the Autumn rain came, I kept them in their own section of lawn they could reck. Put a shower curtain over the run and Auboise straight over the grass in the run. Changed the Auboise every 4/6 weeks. Mind you, that said lots of folk on here have permanent runs and can advise you on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraJ Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I have a run with aubiouse and wood chip in . Its been 3 weeks now and they both look fine, the only thing is all the rain has been driving in and making it wet, even with a roof! I think i will need to change the aubiouse in the next week or so but the wood chip looks ok, but it is very deep, hubby chucked the whole bag in i do poo pick most days though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmaw298 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 hi there, we have our run in a permanent spot - to save on moving it around all the time but also we had to put ours on slabs to keep the rats from tunnelling under. We put heavy plant pots around the skirt of the run to prevent any foxes lifting it up but nothing could tunnel underneath and into the run now so I actually think its more fox-resistant than before. I am also finding it much easier to clean now its on slabs, every 4-5 weeks we rake all the old hemcore out, hose the whole thing down and then throw down some new stuff. I make it nice and deep and chuck in a few bits of mixed corn so it keeps them entertained scratching around all day while we're at work. They get let out every evening for a few hours to free range and all day at the weekends so they still get to enjoy scratching around in the dirt too. If you make them a run on slabs, make sure you provide them a dust bath (though they may well ignore it!). I don't think there's a right or wrong way to decide where you want to place your run - for us its just easier to hose the area down and keep the rats out. hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazygal Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 The lawn recovered after a week or so and was lovely and dark green. . i've also still got my run on grass (with a bit of hemcore down) and am moving it every week. We have not had to cut our grass yet and I know by the sounds of neighbours lawnmowers that we are unusual in this!!! By heck chickens eat a lot of grass! This is very reassuring for me, I'm holding off putting the run in a permanent position, but wish the grass would grow!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imo Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I change the bark chippings every 2-3 weeks I guess, and rake them over everytime the hens get cleaned out. And the concrete slabs don't need to be moved when we're raking or cheaning out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 If you put them on slabs then I think you do need a fairly thick layer of chippings, aubiose etc, so they have something to scratch around in. I have my run in a permanent position just on earth, and I put aubiose in and rake it out every six weeks or so. Some people prefer slabs because it stops rats tunnelling under - I haven't had a rat problem (fingers crossed!) and so I haven't bothered. I think the weight of the eglu and run should be ok to keep it in position, but you can put something heavy on the skirt at intervals if you're worried about it. It's very much a matter of personal choice - on the grass and move it, nice if you can do it but means quite a bit of work; permanently on slabs, costs a bit more to set up but easy to clean and no rats; permanently on earth, cheap and lets them scratch around a lot, but it needs digging over every so often. Depends on your garden style I think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I have mine on slabs, which makes it impossible for rats to tunnel in, and for the fox to dig his way under. It is very easy to jetwash every so often too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich & Ange Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Just a thought for you; we have our chooks on gravel, and this still allows then to scratch for corn and bugs in amongst the stones, but means no need for raking out. My maintenance routine is to hose the gravel every 3-4 days to dissolve the poo and flush it away, and this leaves it 95% clean each time. Periodically, I will sprinkle a disinfectant powder in order to keep down the risk of long term disease, etc, but overall I have so far found our setup to be easy to look after and the chooks seem to be quite happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajm200 Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Maybe when your grass starts growing in a few weeks you'll find that moving the eglu is less of an issue and will have more time to plan and prepare a permanent site So far we have found that the chickens haven't caused too much damage to the grass (the borders are another matter entirely ) We've got a big lawn and have been moving our cube every 4 days. The patches where the cube has been are a bit yellow initially but quickly turn really green and lush and the hens do a brilliant job of removing the moss. I guess we are lucky because our grass has been growing for a while. We've had to cut it 3 times so far this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 ....but if you wait a few weeks for the weather to get better you may not need a permanent site till winter........My lot arrived 12 April last year. I moved them along a bit every few days ....... I may revise my last post and say wait more than a few weeks. I have just read my newspaper and it says and I quote "Forecasters are predicting a big chill mid-April. Snow, sub-zero winds and plunging temps. A far cry from last year when we enjoyed the warmest April since 1959" I thought that my ground was boggy and much worse than a year ago when the chooks arrived..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I have my run permanently on a dug out veg patch - it's just soil but with a thick layer of bark chippings which I rake over every week and change every month or so completely. I did buy some hemcore but prefer the bark chippings as they seem to cope with the rain better, though others would disagree - it's personal choice. But the chickens love scratching about in the chippings and it's comfy on their little chickeny feet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah B Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply, the info has given us much food for thought. I think I will wait a couple of weeks before doing anything permanent and see what happens re the lawn and smell. Might try moving the run every day and hosing the poo on the lawn? Thing is it is so horrible and boggy out there at the mo it's just a pooey mess. At least if it was dry I could poo pick (with my Morrisons 99p for 24 disposable gloves) or rake it up! If we do decide to go down the permanent route after a couple of weeks or so, I think I will try the bark chippings on mud to start and see how that works out. It's the smell that is the problem as I don't want to attract rats or foxes! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahboo Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Hi Sarah We have our Eglu on a permanent base at the moment - we are planning to move it onto the grass if and when we ever get any nice weather My husband used an old section of garden - dug it over and put log roll around it to define the edge. It was then filled with bark chip which we find really easy to turn over every week. We change it approx every 4-5 weeks, depending on how dirty although our chooks freerange a fair bit in the week and a lot at weekends. I'll try and send you a photo by pm. sarah ps - we have started using the flubenvet this week and all is going well - thanks so much for everything. Honey, Marmite and Tikka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah B Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Hi Sarah We have our Eglu on a permanent base at the moment - we are planning to move it onto the grass if and when we ever get any nice weather My husband used an old section of garden - dug it over and put log roll around it to define the edge. It was then filled with bark chip which we find really easy to turn over every week. We change it approx every 4-5 weeks, depending on how dirty although our chooks freerange a fair bit in the week and a lot at weekends. I'll try and send you a photo by pm. sarah ps - we have started using the flubenvet this week and all is going well - thanks so much for everything. Honey, Marmite and Tikka Hi Sarah, I'm afraid the forecast is rubbish for this weekend as well I'd love to see a pic of your set up as it is probably the way we will go in the end. Glad all is well with the Flubenvet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...