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

[wenhen]

They have spent the last week of so digging huge holes in their run during the day. We have them on earth and put hemcore on the top - we gave them a big clean the other weekend (replaced all the hemcore), but they have now dug it all into the mud. So they have a mud/hemcore mix which is really loose (for want of a better word) and they just dig holes.

 

Should we be worried? Is this normal? Is there anything else that I can do to stop them?

 

Also is there something that we should put down onto the bare earth when we clean them out?

 

Many thanks!

[Busybird]

My three girls are on a mud run and it currently has two large craters in it. I think that is where they dust bathe as I have no special container for this purpose.

 

I have been keeping them confined to the run more recently as they were scratching the lawn so much and one of my children complained that his football got covered in chicken poop when he tried to play in the garden I presume that they needed to dust bathe so made their own arrangements.

 

I was worried at first that they were trying to build an escape tunnel . However, the design of the Eglu run seems to have prevented the holes going further than the edge of the run so I have left them as they are.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Quite normal . They love digging dustbaths and I reckon they just get carried away .

 

I have hemcore/soil in my run too and they soon mix it all up so you can hardly see the hemcore. Every six weeks or so I rake off the top couple of inches of hemcore/soil then sprinkle Stalosan F and garden lime down before putting a new layer of hemcore down.

 

Never had a problem with whiffs or sogginess .

[kez]

I've had my two hens less than a fortnight and my garden is full of holes. To be fair though, not all of them were made by the hens, my two daughters have been helping them with their spades!

[Hen Watch]

Are they making a dustbath? If so you might want to put one in the run.

 

Or if your soil is soggy, they may just be scratching the surface looking for worms which come closer to the surface in wet weather. My lot are doing lots of lawn trashing at the moment on "worm hunts".

[wenhen]

Thanks for all the comments.

 

They have a big bucket full of sandy mud - but they seem to ignore it - they are digging some dust baths but then almost looking like they are trying to dig out at the sides of the run underneath the skirt - which does worry me.

 

I'll get some of the garden lime and stalosan F to put in when we next do a big clean.

[Angels4]

My do the same. I swear by the size and depth of the hole they are trying to dig to China.

[quickcluck]

Yup, mine do the same for a bath even though they a big tub in the run filled with lovely stuff for them!

[jools+6]

they are good aren't they ? if we lose one on a head count you can guarantee that she is down a hole !!

[The Brown Clan]

Mine helped me dig over their run and lay new top soil as i was treading it in they were digging it up it took twice as long as children were helping aswell but we all had great fun and the girls loved the extra worms ( will proably need to get the flubenvet out again ). they have already decided to dig to Australia for the winter!!! they do make me laugh .

[wenhen]

I'm so glad that I am not the only one!!

 

I guess at least they are keeping themselves busy and entertained and not getting bored and picking on each other!

[Egluntyne]

All perfectly normal. My hens' area looks like a moonscape.