debbie26pet Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) ive just been out to my chickens and on there wish list is a dingy, there run and auibose is wet through and some of it had now started to form puddles. im gutted i hate to see them like this, like fresh clean. so what have you all found is best on the run floor over winter i cant keep changing auboise with this weather , this lot only been down less than a week and now needs to come bk up. im thinking of puttin another layer of flags in on top of the flags we got in would it work? or do we use a load of gravel for winter and do away with the aubiose in there over winter but at least we wont have to get the chickens some wellies. any tips please Edited September 6, 2008 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 I have aubiose too. I have a walk in run 6 by 9 feet & the only place where the floor was left dry yesterday was a little strip in the middle My aubiose dries out quite quickly, & my hens don't mind getting their feet or feathers wet- why not see how long it takes your aubiose to dry out. As long as it doesn't look really horrid I only change my aubiose about every 6 weeks. The hens don't seem to mind. As for alternatives, I really don't know, & hopefully someone will come along with ideas for you soon. edit- you don't say if your run is covered or not? Mine is, but the rain came in sideways yesterday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbie26pet Posted September 6, 2008 Author Share Posted September 6, 2008 I have aubiose too. I have a walk in run 6 by 9 feet & the only place where the floor was left dry yesterday was a little strip in the middle My aubiose dries out quite quickly, & my hens don't mind getting their feet or feathers wet- why not see how long it takes your aubiose to dry out. As long as it doesn't look really horrid I only change my aubiose about every 6 weeks. The hens don't seem to mind. As for alternatives, I really don't know, & hopefully someone will come along with ideas for you soon. edit- you don't say if your run is covered or not? Mine is, but the rain came in sideways yesterday! hi my run is covered and i do have a tarpauling type cover on the sides, but with winds etc it spent most the time in the air and the rain blowing in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanchick Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Hi, I use aubiose and I have a tarpaulin permanently covering the run these days. This doesn't stop rain getting in at the sides but it doesn't get drenched anymore. Aubiose that's been pooped in really stinks when it gets wet and mine doesn't seem to dry out once it gets really soaked (think I should have left gaps between the concrete slabs for drainage when I put them down). I got a great tarpaulin for not much more than £10 that perfectly fits the cube run with extension. I am looking to buy an even better one - heavy grade pvc that also keeps out the light (noisy chickens, better sort it out before Spring ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliechick Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Hi the best thing to do is cover the top and all sides with strong plastic sheeting, held in place by wire punched through to secure it in place to the wire of the run. I did this as the winter is coming fast now, and also to stop the dog we are looking after from peeing on the corners of the run. It has worked really well and even though our cube is on a permenant site we only need to change our bedding once to twice a week. I use medz beds its like chopped up bits of straw but bit better than straw as its dust free and parasites dont live in it like they do with straw. Also chickens like to scratch and chicken about and if they on concrete I was told it wasnt really ideal. Hope this helps xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 "what have you all got on your runs floor this time of year?" Mud Found some good tarpaulins on ebay yesterday, may invest: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Tarpaulins-To-Go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandychick Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Mine have water on their run floor......2 inches deep again today Covers, slabs etc are great if the ground drains ok. The water here is flowing on the surface. If there is surface water, I've decided the only way to solve it, is to raise the ground that the run is on, or put drainage all round the outside of it. Lots of work ahead here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs G Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Hiya, We have wood chips on what was once grass. The whole area around the eglu and run is boarded in with a deep layer of wood chips, then we have the Omlet winter cover over the top (which has been treated with nikwax). It's been raining all day, but most of the run is still relatively dry - so of course the girls shot out of there to play in the rest of the bog we call our garden!!!! The wood chipped area is certainly better to walk on right now than the rest of the garden. The other bonus I've noticed is that the girls love scratching it up and finding worms, then DH rakes it levels before they scratch it all over the place again - keeps him and the chicks busy and out of mischief Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 we use aubiose all year round. its been so wet lately though and we find we are changing it more. Hubby is planning to make some perspex "blinds/shutters" the weekend so we can close them at night to help keep it dry over night and also be able to close them during the day when we have torrential rain which is what we've been having lately. it doesnt help that we havent had any nice hot sunny days to dry anything out does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ardene5 Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Hi We Have been building a run this year. But because of the lay of the land in our garden major work had to be done before the run was put up. We decided to put the run where the shed was, so that had to be moved whilst still erected! Just 2 x 14 ft lengths of wood, a car jack and 2 x 10 ft metal tube ( ex scaffolding poles) & 1 x crowbar 6 ft long. But before moving that a new shed base needed laying and then a wee task to move the shed! After moving the 8 ft x 12 ft shed it was raised up on extra flags to allow any water not to get into the shed should the garden flood about 7 inches. A water soak away was then dug 18 ins wide x 18 inches deep x 14 ft long with a lead tube to this running at the back of the shed ( yes the garden has flooded before) hence this work being done. The soil from the dug out area was then put as the start of the run base, followed by road base stone, then sand and finally flags. The run was raised about 7 inches to be at the same height as the shed. The cube is on the outside of the run and the eglu is inside with aubiose on the floor. We have 9 chickens, out of the 9 are 3 ex battery who live in the eglu with the younger new girls living in the cube. Slowly they are becoming a flock. When the weather is good they will still be able to free range in the garden but not at the moment . Ian is thinking of making a small bridge to go from the patio to the run for egg collection!!! We hope this has been some use to you. Best regards Ian & Valerie William & Harry Missy & Millie dogs (girls 1 & 9 yrs old) 9 chickens Purple cube and eglu A new winter run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliechick Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Hi Val and Ian, Gosh that all sounds very technical!!! Post some pics so we can see ur good work Charliechick xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordelia Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 our run is now boarded in, and covered with wood chip/bark from B&Q(ontop of grass)...we just added more yesterday, so 6 bags have covered it, with the converter... I have the omlet small shade and bought a tarpaulin from this site. http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com 6x4 ...about £8 including postage...may have wished to get a larger one though, in hindsight, which was only £10 all told... good luck....our garden is drneched at the moment...and wish we had pathways to the eglu....but havent yet.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busybird Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 My three chooks are on soggy mud - it gets a bit smelly when so wet. I temporarily move the run and rake it over once a week to remove any solid poos. I then sprinkle sand on the bit under the grub feeder as their constant scratching has made a particularly soggy crater there. The run sits on the same section of mud all the time as OH complained that the whole garden looked awful when I moved it around. We now have patchy grass were it had become a quagmire. In dry weather (remember that? ) I can easily brush out poos daily and compost the pooy dust that comes out. In wet weather any attempt at a quick fix just seems to release smells. I do worry that keeping the run on the same section of mud may cause health problems. I've read here that some people sprinkle some sort of lime on their runs so must look into that but I worry that it could poison the chooks if put direct on the mud they scratch in . We are not particularly useful DIY wise and I have already spent more than OH is happy with on my chooks so at present I can't look at any other way of keeping them. They seem happy enough, look healthy and give me three delicious eggs every day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
