Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Brown Betty]

What do you put on the floor of the run. Our house and run are on the concrete base of our old greenhouse which also has a 3 high brick wall all around it. Perfect as before when we had the house down the garden even though we had a skirt of mesh around the outside we still had a fox trying to burrow under.

 

But what do you put if anything on the floor. A friend told me that she puts a bag of bark chip on the ground which I tried but after they'd poo'd and weed on it for a good while it just turned to mud and stunk like a farm yard. When I cleaned them out yesterday I did a complete hose down job inside and outside the house and got rid of it, (it will make fabulous compost for next year) I have put a light covering of bark chip down more just to keep their feet off the wet if it rains. There is a roof on the run but rain still gets in from the side, its up against a fence along one side. I'm wondering about chipped rubber from recycled tyres has anyone else tried this. Thinking I could hose it down. Or should I just leave it as bare concrete. The house has lovely toasty straw inside which often finds its way down the ramp to the run too.

[Egluntyne]

Aubiose. I change it every 6 weeks or so. You do need to put a cover overthe run though, as it is super absorbent and will be affected by rain.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I use Hemcore or Easibed which are both fab (but agree with Egluntyne they need to be kept as dry as possible. I clean it out every 3 months or so.

 

You might want to use a disinfectant on the concrete base when you clean it out. I use Stalosan F but there are others just as good. That will help keep pongs down too!

[Lavenders_Blue]

Wood chip (not bark) on mine. I give it a good rake over every week to loosen it all up as the girls do rather trample it down. But one month on it's still looking great and best of all it was free from a local tree surgeon.

 

The girls' outside run area is just a sea of mud at the moment with all the rain and I am considering tipping a load down out there too to try and give them something a bit nicer to play in.

[Redwing]

I have woodchip in my run too (hardwood chips from B&Q) they have been down since March and are still going strong, every now and again I will tip some Bedmax woodshavings on the top in a big pile for the hens to distribute (which they seem to enjoy!) the shavings take up any damp and keep everything fresh

 

Every now and again I will drag a rake through it as and when the urge strikes me

[Cooks]

I either use, Aubiose or Bedmax (which I am using at the moment) it's great stuff and cheap too.

[kevtheplumber]

got introduced to hemcore last week and im not going back lovely smell too