Solitary chicken - need advice

[Luvachicken]

well, we made our play area for the girls a few weeks ago, with our lovely new turf which they demolished in quite a short time. Yeah, i knew they'd eat it all but i was kind of hoping it would look like the short grass you see on a golf course, so now we are left with a brown carpet which is never going to grow. So we thought we'd take the "grass" away and get them bark chippings or shall we leave it as soil?

If we put bark chippings does it need something solid underneath and how deep do the chippings need to be?

Or is there anything else that would be better like gravel or something?

Thanks for any help xx

[Sarahsausage]

I have bark chippings in my run with just soil underneath, it's easy to poo pick with chippings. Think the chippings are only about an inch deep, the chickens like scratching around in it too. Once they've gone to bed I just spread it out again as it tends to get moved around!

[Lewis]

I just have mud in my WIR but am thinking about slabbing the next run

 

A lot of people used to use bark chippings, but now use rubber chippings.

You buy them in bags and they come in different colours, I think that if you have quite a thick layer you can just wash it with a hose and the poo goes into it and washes away into the soil.

[Eland]

I'm thinking of doing the same thing! I read somewhere that bark chippings go mouldy and that wood chippings last longer

 

Have you read this Omlet guide yet?

 

Wood Chippings

[cluckingmad]

after our lawn was reduced to a muddy spalt by our girls we did a concrete slab and covered with paving slabs for the WIR (overkill...?!)... the slabs are then covered with aubiose horse bedding as its about the msot absorbant stuff in the world (think of the size of a horse poo compared to a chooks )

[sjp]

I use wood chip horse bedding 1- 25kg bale does the one half of the run about 4inch deep on top of soil got to do the other half today now all the grass has just about gone all I’m going to do is s"Ooops, word censored!"e all 'rubbish' of spray it with poultry shield add diatom and biodry or stolan F add wood chips then diatom and biodry then watch all the chipping get kicked all over the place by my ex-navies

[millymoo]

I get 2nd grade bales of barley straw from a local farm. and scatter it all over the run, it absorbs all the mud and biodegrades down into the ground, I top it up with another bale every 2 weeks, the girls love it and spend hours scratching round for the seeds. It costs around 4pounds a bale but well worth it.

[chocolateeclaire]

My run is covered so the patch of grass just got dry and dusty.

I then put down 'cozy coop' which I got from the local farm shop. It is like a very finely chopped straw/hay mix which is absorbent and the girls love stratching around in it.

It only costs £4.00 a bale.

Claire

[chickenNutter]

So what is this Auboise then? Is it just wood shavings? And how much is it, and where do I get it from in Lancashire? I have got my three on bark chippings in my eglu run at the moment, but it is quite expensive from a garden centre and a bit chunky. I though wood shavings would go a bit soggy though.

[cluckingmad]

its brilliant stuff - its the core from the hemp plant (yes, my mother had a fit when we told her that one) so is extremely absorbant and hygenic for the girls..

 

Not sure where you could get it from where you are but have a nosey on google, there's bound to be a horsey type place somewhere close by

[Lavenders_Blue]

You could try contacting a local tree surgeon about wood chippings. I was going to buy from B&Q at £5 a bag but then thought I would try a couple of tree surgeons. One offered me a transit van full (!!!) for £30 and another said I could have them for free!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Aubiose have a number you can call for stockists.

 

Hemcore have a search facility as do Easibed.

 

There's also Nedzbedz .

[C&T]

Personally, I wouldn't take the grass up. Just put your bedding or wood chips on top.

 

We found the grass roots make it more dificult for the chickens to dig to Australia through, and I also found it easier to s"Ooops, word censored!"e the bedding off when the time comes to replace it.

 

I have just put turf down in their run for this reason.

[Luvachicken]

we worked hard all weekend removing the dead carpet of grass. Then we popped to B and Q and bought some amazing weed surpressing stuff, industrial strength, and some bark chippings ( which stink ) .So far its has worked well and I don't think their little feet will get through it but now the girls seem to like escaping to the grass that is outside their run ,naughty girls.

The grass is always greener on the other side especially when they don't have any .

 

When the bark chippings disappear i might use the bale of straw stuff but is it different to the bale of straw i buy for my rabbits ?

[sparkysmum]

I use wood chips from a tree surgeon £1 / bag on top of slabs. Works really well. Hens like it & it smells like the forest floor. However can't guarantee what's in it & it often has holly & decomposing leaves. Ax