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

[dacktarie]

Hello everyone i would like some advice on how to maintain bark chips in the run and a further fenced area to free range in.Both are open to the elements but are fine.The poo gets churned up as the girls scratch and I can not find any to clear up!!

Obviously I am worried about hygine etc

Thank You emma

[SnowWhite]

Same here, so we're just raking it over once a week and so far this is working out ok. We plan to refresh the woodchips every 4 months.

[madchickenlady]

Hi My girls have an enclosed run attatched to their coop on slabs, with a layer of bark. I sweep the bark out every 6 weeks or so, disinfect the slabs with water and dettol, and then put in new bark. The used bark gets put on my flower borders as a mulch

[Plum]

I've got woodchip on slabs in cube run which is covered on top and one side. I rake it once a week and pick up the poo. Its fairly easy to spot but some gets broken into little bits. I've just taken out the wettest dirtiest looking stuff and thrown some hemcore in as well.

I've started putting Stalosan F on the slabs each week to keep disease down and some on the woodchip. The run even though covered gets wet from rain running along the slabs and I sometimes think it would be better for the woodchip to leave it open to have a rinse when it pours. It worries me a bit because I throw some food in so they are eating it off the woodchip. They also scratch and peck at it all the time.

I guess if you worm them every 3 months they stay healthy. Its interesting to see what others do.

[TheCoop]

Hi - I replace the woodchips about every 3 or 4 months. Like you said, after a while it's difficult to spot the poo and it all gets churned up together!

 

Funnily enough, I just replaced the woodchip in our run yesterday: I emptied out all the previous chips, replaced with 200 litres of dcorative woodbark and gave a healthy layer of Aubiose on top.

 

I also sprinkle Aubiouse on the wooden floor of their sleep area, then put newspaper and cardboard down, add another layer of Aubiose, then topped off with loads of straw.

 

I think they're fairly well looked after...