Feeding advice for bantams (one broody, one moulting)

[Jules.]

I've been reading what Alison-the-chicken-course-lady says on her web site about her solution to muddy runs, & I think this sounds ideal for me

 

http://www.chickenkeeper.co.uk/shop/64-mud-management.html

 

Anyone tried it?

[BarbaraJ]

looks good but wouldn't it smell? aubiose absorbs the poo, it would just sit on that!

[chelsea]

what about when it rains as it wouldnt soak up the wet? Even though we have a proper roof on our run certain areas still get wet if its windy and raining.

 

A good idea for warmer climes maybe? Not for me though.

[SAB]

Thanks for the link - I have emailed her to ask if it would work if the run is on slabs and also if there are any problems with the chickens eating/attempting to eat the chippings - will post her reply when I hear from her.

[Jules.]

Even though my run is covered as I have soil in my run I presume that the rain, where it landed on the rubber, would soak through it, & then through the weed suppressing membrane.

[SAB]

Thanks for the link - I have emailed her to ask if it would work if the run is on slabs and also if there are any problems with the chickens eating/attempting to eat the chippings - will post her reply when I hear from her.

 

Got very prompt reply to say that she thought it should be fine on slabs and that the chickens would love scratching in it. She had not had problems with them trying to eat it due to size of chippings and them tasting bad.

 

I am still not sure - you must get smell of wet rubber which is not my cup of tea and my chooks do love their hemcore.

[Redwing]

When I had my horse I had this in his excercise area, its good stuff, it does not soak up rain and the rain can easily drain through. There is not much of a rubber smell once they have been down a while, they last ages too.

 

The only things that would stop me using them is that if they are black chippings (mine were shredded tyre rubber) they do get a bit hot in the sun and the other thing that puts me off would be the hosing down which seems a bit of a faff.

[Jules.]

I've just cleaned out my run, it gets done every 6 weeks. It took me quite a while to shovel out all the auboise, then I hosed down the slabs which the run stands on.

Ideally I'd like to slab the whole run, would make cleaning our much easier.

[mad house]

I know who you mean and my suggestion would be to visit her and see what her runs look like

[Tessa the Duchess]

I like the sound of the rubber chippings, but I don't like the thought of having to hose them down, and it would drastically cut down on material for my compost bins which are my pride and joy

 

Tessa

[TAJ]

I noticed yesterday in Practical Poultry (March edition) it has an article about mud management and rubber chippings is one of there solutions.

 

Tracy

 

Edit: I just read the magazine again - it is a two page article by Alison Wilson - so no wonder it has rubber chippings as the solution as it is written by the same person!

[Olly]

I like the sound of the rubber chippings, but I don't like the thought of having to hose them down, and it would drastically cut down on material for my compost bins which are my pride and joy

 

Tessa

 

You've made a good point there Tessa - the contents of the run are the foundation of my compost bins! I also can't quite get the hang of how this works, surely you'd have to rake them out and hose them off at some point, otherwise the run would just fill up with poo?

[AJuff]

I think rubber chips could be the answer to my walk in run. I currently use Easybed which takes ten bags at £5 each. It lasts about 4-6 weeks then needs replacing. Oh doesn't know how much it costs!!! As the Easibed is on soil it would be fine to hose down rubber chips as the poo would ultimately soak down into the ground and away! I think I might price it up . . maybe better value in the long run. I also like the idea of slate chips too. I tried them on pea gravel but that was a nightmare as it wasn't too thick and just merged with the soil.

[BarbaraJ]

Wow your run must be huge mines approx 12' x 7' and took just under 2 bags of aubiose at £8