E4eggs Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Still new to this, so any advice would be gratefully received! Have had eglu plus extended run for nearly eight weeks now. At first I just moved it around the lawn, but then decided to dig up some rather dull shrubs and put it directly on the earth. Congratulated myself that this was fabulous idea. Lots of good digging and fantastic dust bathing (so much so that there is quite a hole in one corner and have put slabs outside wire so that fox doesn't dig one side, hen the other and they meet in middle of tunnel!!). Anyway, after the constant, unyielding rain of this past week the soil is quite compacted and doesn't look as much fun. Any advice please: 1. When the sun is cracking the flags again (in the coming months!?) do you think that the soil will be fine and return to a lovely fine tilth and be suitable? 2. Would aubiose or something in the run be a better idea? I rather liked the soil as I thought it was more natural and encourage more worms, bugs, etc. Any advice or experience would be great. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 I would sprinkle some Aubiose for them to scratch in. It is very absorbant though, so you will need a cover on the run. I had the same situation as you. They were either at the Somme or on hard cracked mud. In the end I put the whole thing on paving slabs, and the soiled Aubiose was relatively easy to shift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxBaz Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 As my run is totally seperate from the Cube, I regularly hoe the soil so it keeps nice and soft and good for digging. The girls absolutely go mad when they see the hoe, as they now associate it with food - lots of worms etc and I have to be SO careful to avoid their little feet and heads as they squabble over who can get the closest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 I raked out my eglu run too on Sat, they went nuts trying to get back in, very funny - I need to get some garden lime to mix with the top soil to prevent bugs building up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E4eggs Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 At the moment I have the run weighed down with planks along one side and a sleeper the other. I'll have to move them and give it a good dig over for now. Typically, most of our garden is dreadful heavy clay soil, but the bed I sited the run on was fabulous soil which is probably gorgeous now enriched with chickens nuggets!!! Eventually I may try Egluntine's suggestion. Like most things, getting the chickens was my idea, opposed by OH, but he seems to have taken very well to the hens. The only alternative pets we own are our 2 very unfriendly cats, and of course the hens are so friendly and funny and have won him round. I'll wait awhile and introduce the idea of more outlay and toil!! This hen lark seems to be winding path of adventure - finding out what works for oneself and what doesn't. Luckily the forum is such a fund of ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 I had a grassy area (a long time ago ) and this was replaced by soil. I have recently put down paving slabs and the runs on top. FIlled it with aubiose and the hens love it. Every few weeks (6-8 ) i lift off the runs and s"Ooops, word censored!"e the soiled aubiose out, hose it down and sprinkle stalosan disinfectant on the slabs. Runs go back and refilled with aubiouse. A bit of work and can be a little whiffy, if it has rained heavily, but the best solution for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Ditto to what Christian says - I have aubiose on top of earth, and every couple of months I move the whole thing, rake out the aubiose and compost it, dig over the earth and put the run back with more aubiose. It doesn't actually take that long to do. You may want to put some sort of 'kick-board' up to stop them kicking the aubiose out of the run, plastic lawn edging works well. Aubiose is fantastic, it soaks up poo, stops it smelling, and keeps the floor of the run dry. I think wherever you put them in the garden, within a couple of weeks you would have compacted earth because all they do, all day is trample up and down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I use bark chippings in my run, the really fine, fibrous (CHEAP) kind. I also love aubiose, but find it a bit tricky to get hold of regularly and I love the smell of bark. I unhook my run and dig over the patch of earth every few months, and add a bit of garden lime too. When I had an extended eglu run rather than the cube, I did exactly the same thing when the earth got manky, I took the run off the eglu, dragged it to one side and dug over the ground before reattaching and filling with bark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Interesting reading - as usual! I was advised against bark chippings, as they harbour nasty moulds. So I've gone for a mixture of small wood chippings and hemp stuff - on top of earth. The girls seem to love it - however, I too have pout some edging around the run, as they also enjoy kicking it all out. However, the heavy rain hasn't helped - so I'm now looking towards some getting some plastic roofing for the run - as it's open at the moment! All good fun though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchlayer Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 a question about aubiose. My run is not covered, only a small portion, so if I put this down it would get completely sodden very quickly, does this matter? Or is it really for covered runs and the coops? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Everyone talks about the nasty moulds, but I haven't noticed any . I think really, much like free ranging, it's a matter of personal choice. The bark chippings tend to come with lots of lovely bugs in them which the girls absolutely love though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I too was thinking about bark chippings for all the reasons you state (cheap, available, nice smell, look nice etc etc) but was put off by the moulds thing. Interesting to hear that it's been fine for you - now I'm undecided again!? Any other thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I suggest you fork over all the soil and rake it for them. Cover the run with a clear shower curtain so the earth keeps fairly dry and perhaps hang up some interesting greens and CDs in their run to keep them entertained. This way the earth won't get too bad and as they'll dustbath in it it will be nice and loose and of a fine texture. When that bit of ground has had enough move the run to another position and lime and rake over the old soil and cover it in grass seed. Fence it off though if you allow your chickens to free range at all as they'll eat the seed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchlayer Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 My run is fixed, 7m long so not something I can easily pick up and move. I could put more of a cover on it though I suppose. Would the aubiose 'not work' if it got completely soggy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 My run is similar and I use Aubiose onsoil. Every few weeks I rake it out, sprinkle garden lime to sweeten the soil, fork it over and spread a new bale of Aubiose around. My run is covered but leaks so it gets soggy in some areas and remains dustbowl-dry in others. The girls helpfully make handy craters for me to trip over too. It's a bit of work, but worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surferdog Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Would the aubiose 'not work' if it got completely soggy? I use Hemcore and it gets smelly if it gets wet. Our run is covered but rain blows in through the mesh front and it starts to smell a bit 'farmyardy'. Even though we clean the run out totally every 3 to 4 weeks and I do a daily 'poo pick'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjjj Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 We have covered our eglo run with a corrugated UV stable clear plastic (?) roofing sheet. We have held it down with 'bungy' ropes. It flexes very well over the run and keeps the bedding and the chooks dry. This has been a boon. It's clear so there is no light loss for the girls. We have tucked it up as far as possible to the Eglo, to prevent a flood inside the Eglo. We had several goes at just where to place it along the top of the run and this is the most sucessful. The Summer shade is underneath the 'roofing' so they still have their shady area. The new cover is 33 x 72 ins so there is plenty of air circulation still, but we did think that when (if) we get very warm weather again we will remove this cover to give the girls maxiumum air flow. This may help with Somme problem. Kindest regards jjjj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
