Eglu cube or go up with 2m run

[Milliechick]

Hello everyone,

 

can I have some advice on what might be good to put on the bottom of the undercover run? I originally had turf, but it has been demolished! I believe wood chip might be best, but just want to make sure! (There is nothing there now apart from soil and some straw).

 

Thanks

[miffy]

Hi Milliechick!

I use Aubiose which marketed for horses really. Its brilliant the poo sort of dries and its easy to "poo pick" easy for girls to peck around in. Also when you change it the aubiose can be composted.

[Samuel Morse]

Miffy, how often do you change the lot?

[sadietoo]

another vote for Aubiose here..its really good, much better than woodchip and more economical too...a big bale costs me about £9 and does me for at least 4 months in my standard eglu run changing it completely about once every six weeks. as already said it stays dry and relatively clean as it is easy to poo pick

[Milliechick]

Miffy, how often do you change the lot?

 

Beat me to it!

[Milliechick]

And I'm guessing, like wood chip, it would be easy for them to scratch out? So I would need to put wood round the sides of the run? And do you just 'poo pick' it on a daily basis?

[Samuel Morse]

Mine have kicked some of my mine out but not too much. I guess it depends on the position of the run and what shelter you have around it though.

 

EDIT: I should add that I have a wooden house and run, so there is a couple of inches of the frame keeping some of it in.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Guest

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I've used Hemcore and Easibed (both similar to Aubiose) and find both really good.

 

You will need to put something along the edges or it'll end up all over your garden . I cable tied old rotary clothes drier covers along mine!

 

You won't have to poo pick much as it magically dries it all out. Just make sure you keep your run covered as it will get soggy.

[patsylabrador]

The ground of the WIR was absolutely sodden so we put a mixture of sand and gravel which has been brilliant and they've hardly got muddy at all, apart from paddling in a muddy puddle I missed at the back. I cover this with woodchips or hemcore sometimes because it looks nice.

[beulah59]

Is the run covered? If not, woodchip is ideal ... you can rake it over and use a powder disinfectant, you can hose it down to get rid of poo, or poo pick it or all three! And mine love turning it over ... esp if you throw in a handful of corn.

[jill the potter]

How do you poo pick in an eglu run? Surely you don't crawl in there? It's one of the things I find frustrating about the eglu run. I wish there was a bigger door on the side. I'm not a small chicken mommy so usually try my best to use a long handled rake, but as the ground and the woodchip has been forzen for a couple of weeks now that's not so easy. I suppose omlet designed it so you could move it about but I find it's better to have them on a permanent site, especially in winter.

[Sarahsausage]

Woodchips/bark chippings used here, only £4.75 a bag and gets fully changed every 6-8 weeks. I was going to use Aubiose but was told it is too sharp for chicken feet so avoided it, it does look quite spikey stuff to me.

[miffy]

Hi...sorry for delay in reply

 

To be honest it depends how wet or smelly it gets. I changed it the week before christmas and its still fine. I change it about each 6-8 weeks on average .....a lot less often sometimes to be honest, but more often if needed. It also depends how many girls are in the run, I guess mine will last longer whilst only Primrose is there!! I have also found that Aubiose amd Cousin Jack straw/hay (cant remember) together works best in the nesting box.

TBH you will find what works best for your situation, but Aubiose and similar types of bedding are very popular amongst Omleteers

 

Poo picking is not an exact science, just pick what you can and dont worry about the rest..

[Cranfield Kate]

Keep an eye out for bags of bark/wood chippings in lidl in the spring and summer - they're very very cheap, something like 99p for a bag.