Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[Doody]

Hi,

 

Well its day 9 of keeping chickens and everything is going well so far. Just a few scares, but all good.

 

Im still VERY new to all this, but i was just wondering what is the best to put on the run floor. Ive tried to get some pics on here from my phone to show set-up etc, but no joy. Ill keep trying though!!!

 

Basically i have a coop, and part of the garden they can walk around in. This run has a 1m tall wire fence going around it. Its about 8m x 8m i would say, and this is for my 3 Isa Browns.

 

With all this rain, its now turning a little muddy etc, and i was wondering whats the best material to put down that is easy to clean etc. Ive heard something like Hempcore is good, any advice would be much appreciated.

 

Regards

 

Mark

[C&T]

Hemcore is great (or any other horse bedding) - but you need to keep it dry and covered.

 

If you don't/can't keep it covered, then try wood chip?

[The Dogmother]

It's best to cover the run (or at least part of it) with a clear tarp or clear corrugated plastic and use Aubiose/Hemcore as the litter; that will keep it drier and smell free.

[Doody]

Hemcore is great (or any other horse bedding) - but you need to keep it dry and covered.

 

If you don't/can't keep it covered, then try wood chip?

 

Ok, no problem. The area im talking about most would be not under cover. So i could use the hemcore in the covered area and get some bark chippings for the uncovered areas.

 

Ill have to source where i can get big bags of wood chippings, only ever seen them in garden centres and normally expensive for a big bag. Ill look into that though, there is a horse shop lol, down the road, maybe they will have big bags of hemcore.

[Roobaloo]

Hemcore only comes in one size bale, it's fairly common in the horsey world...Auboise is an alternative. I used EasiBed (for both my horses and my chooks!!) which is also very good!! Be aware that prices can vary!!

 

Be careful with certain wood chippings, especially if you have other pets, as they can have cocoa mulch (which is toxic)

 

http://doghealth1.com/cocoa-mulch-poison-to-pets/

[Plum]

Out in the open I would stick to woodchip or divide area in half and let the grass recover half at a time and rotate them

[Jools]

Out in the open I would stick to woodchip or divide area in half and let the grass recover half at a time and rotate them

 

Seconded, particularly the dividing into two to rest one side.

[Stedic]

When I bought my girls I was told to use straw in the run - I tried it for a while, they loved it but it got smelly so quickly!

 

I now use woodchip in their run and the area around it - they seem to love scratting in it and despite monsoons and heat waves (well, an English summer anyway) its been absolutely fine. I seem to be changing it around every 6 weeks in the run, depending on the weather. I get it from a local farm, costs about £1.50 for a 50 litre bag.

 

Only trouble is disposing of it once its been used, I don't think it'll rot down very quickly.

[kissinuk]

I've tried aubiose, wood chips, bark and straw. Personally I vote for straw as it:-

 

..is cheap (I pay £2 for a massive bale)

..copes better in wet weather

..is easy to change

..works very well if your run is slabbed