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

[sharkbait]

Hi all,

 

Wer'e about to move our girls out of the eglu run (which was kept on soil with bark chippings on the top) into luxury walk in run accomodation. The run is set on flagstones at the edge to keep it stable and at the moment has bare soil inside. The roof is covered with corrugated UV plastic so should be nice and dry. We are also thinking of getting a few quail and keeping them in a separate run in the WIR.

 

Advice please on what to put down on the ground. Ive read on this forum that aubiose and hemcore are both good but do you put it directly on the soil, how deep etc. What about Nedz bed (which is all our local farm supplied shop stocks)? Any other alternatives?

 

Any advice or other ideas gratefully received!

 

 

 

+ 3 dogs and lots of fish

many thanks

[Redwing]

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

Soil in the middle of the WIR is fine, woodchip is an option and will last longer than the horsey beddings but is not everyones cup of tea and hard to dispose of as it takes ages to rot down

 

Most of the horse beddings are fine, I would avoid woodshavings on their own (mixed with woodchip they are ace though) so aubiose etc... are all fine, some people use Nedz bedz

 

Try the one local to you and if it doesnt work for you source something else

 

as you have a roof the world is your oyster when it comes to bedding

[Falkor]

Congratuations on your WIR

 

I have a WIR with roof. It is part slabbed and part soil.

 

I LOVE AUBIOSE

 

I have tried various things in the WIR - bedmax, shavings, Bliss, hemcore but have just got my mitts on some Aubiose (£9.20 ) and have to say it is the best IMO.

It is more expensive than the other beddings that I have brought but I find a bale lasts me longer.

 

I have woodchipping in the banties cube run and the eglu runs and these seem to work best in there are not completly covered from the elements.

 

Em

x

[Lizzie]

Hi

I put turf into my run - it takes approx 5 pieces to do and B&Q usually is not too expensive

Cheapest place to me is just down the road.

It last 2-3 weeks and I keep it watered to help make it last later

The girls love it as they can peck away to their hearts content

 

Regards

Liz

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I have just the setup you describe and use Easibed in my run. It's fab and lasts for ages . (I've used Hemcore too which is just as good.)

[sharkbait]

Thankyou everyone for your replies, much appreciated!

 

One more question - I would like to plant some things in there to give them a bit of interest and make it look even nicer. What shrubs can I plant that they won't eat or destroy, they are little monsters when it comes to digging up the contents of the garden. (I love them to bits despite the garden looking slightly worse for wear!)

 

Thanks!

[C&T]

To your original question...

 

We put our run on grass, and then when that disapeared, used Hemcore. It was fantastic!

 

Then one day we dug it all up, to dig in garden lime and stalosan F to make sure there were no nasties. For us, it was a big mistake in many ways (although obviously had to be done...).

 

The roots of the grass had created a hard mat, that the chickens hadnt got through with their feet, and so stopped the Hemcore getting mixed up in the soil.

 

So this weekend, I am putting grass down again in the run, and then putting bedding on top again once they have eaten all the grass, and see if that works!!

 

But I haven't explained this fully to the chickens yet, and they may have other ideas...

 

Regarding plants - the chickens will dig at the roots, so an unestablihed plant may find it difficult to survive, assuming they don't eat the top of the plant first...

[Plum]

Plants mine haven't eaten are Euonymous, sumac, lavendar, cotoneaster, photonia (little red robin).

Agree they dig them up, so I cover the roots with stones, boulders, slabs They still get at the roots. Still working on that one. This is in their outside area not the run as I have a cube but I'm thinking of putting a big pot in there.

 

My plants may be poisonous which is why they survive. Do you know if cotoneaster berries are a problem?