4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[peggy]

i'm not clear about poo being a new bird in this chicken lark!

With regard to the poo on the gound in the run do you just leave it to rot in to the ground? or clean it up and if so how?

we are intending to move the run around a bit - do we then leave the poo on the grass?

[chucknette]

Hi Peggy

 

You can sprinkle aubiose in the run to dry out the poo and then rake it up when you move your eglu.

 

Or you can just blast it with the hosepipe. This is what I do.

 

I have aubiose in my run and I dont need to clear it out too often because they free range for quite a bit of the day.

 

Hope this helps

 

Best Wishes

[Chickybaby]

I just leave mine where it drops, but then again my hens free range all day so it isn't all in one area.

[chelsea]

yep, i use aubiose in the run - its very good and the poos get coated in it and dry up. I poo pick every day with a trowel and then on clean out days we rake out the whole run and replace the aubiose every 3-6 weeks.

[ajm200]

We have hemcore in the run and the girls free range in their own area most of the time. We rack the run out weekly and top up the hemcore. It gets changed completely every 2-4 weeks.

 

We pick up what we can with a trowel and put it in the compost and blast the rest with the hose. On hot days, the poo really does attract flies (especially the yellow stinky poos) so we tend clean it up a couple of time a day

 

I'm a bit paranoid about clearing it up as we have a toddler playing in the garden and I'm pregnant so I think can really smell it even when others say they can smell nothing

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Hello Peggy

 

I've got hemcore in my permanent run and just leave the poos (unless they're massive and within reach of the door ). They just get absorbed into the soil/hemcore - you hardly ever see any poo in the run even if they've not been out freeranging. Poos on the lawn get flicked straight into the flowerbeds every couple of days. Ones that get missed just dry up or get washed into the soil depending on the weather.

 

We've not had many hot days in Scotland yet , and it's always windy so I've not noticed much smell even when the run's not been cleaned out for weeks (we usually do it every 6 weeks.)

[carenb]

Hi, hope I'm not too late to join in the chat. I've had 4 chooks a couple of weeks now and the have a permanent run, and free range for a couple of hours a day when I get home from work.

 

I let them out for as long as they like, and they put themselves to bed - which I find very amusing.

 

Anyway, my issue is the grass/mud/ground in the run is becoming more and more saturated with poo and spilt pellets etc. I am very interested in laying the auboise (I actually use Bliss and Snowflake easidry in the hen house) and have a couple of questions:

 

1. How thick do you make the outdoor area?

2. Does is smell - as a result of the really damp weather? (i have no 'roof' on my home made run)

3. Does anyone use bliss outside ?

4. Does the bedding used outdoors blow around a lot ?

 

sorry for the questions, but my husband is starting to get twitchy about the mess in the pen. I empty the hen house twice a day (poo pick) and would be happy(!) to do the same in the run if it didn't get welded ot the grass and mud.

 

Thanks Caren

[BarbaraJ]

if you have no roof i wouldn't use anything other than wood chip as the others absorb water so would end up like mush!

[Stevie]

I move my Eglu aroud the lawn every 2-3 days and poo pick on a daily basis otherwise the garden develops a 'farmyard' style smell which might not be appealing to neighbours!

 

I find a good stiff brush is best for sweeping the poops into a pile.