Different brand auto door??

[Ness3103]

my wir is on soil and i've got hemcore down too, the run has a roof so the soil never gets wet and is absoloutely rock hard. i was wondering if i should spray it with water when they've gone to bed just to soften it a bit also thought it would be easier for them to dig for worms

[Guest]

I'd leave it as it is. Ours is the same, they dig in the aubiose. I don't particularly want them to dig for worms as worms carry parasitic eggs and can in turn give the chickens worms, plus they'd probably end up with mud balls on their claws.

 

Even if it's rock hard, they can scracth around in it and make dust baths.

[Ness3103]

thanx for your advice, i hadn't thought about the parasites in worms i just felt a bit guilty because they're in the run all the time as our garden isn't chook proof yet and i feel they're missing out on digging in nice loose soil

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I don't add any water - they like it nice and dry for digging in and dustbathing in .

 

Re the parasites, have you got Stalosan F? That's ideal for keeping everything nice and healthy .

[Falkor]

If you want to give them something to scratch/dig in you could pop to B&Q and buy a bag of compost and one of those big shallow potting trays..........

 

My four have a tub trug filled with compost and although they don`t dust bathe in it they take much delight from flinging it all over the blooming place