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

[Boybeck]

I've tried using aubiose in my WIR and it stays nice and clean but don't you think hens prefer digging around in bare earth in WIRs? I worry that my four miss out on the digging when I can only let them free range for a couple of hours a night. What do you think?

[janeears]

We've deliberated long and hard on this issue. We've now decided to only slab the perimeter of our WIR, leaving the middle strip as earth. The whole lot will be covered in woodchips but I really felt that it was more natural for the hens to be able to scratch around to their heart's content!!

[Boybeck]

Yes I kind of think the same. My only concern is hygiene. I dig the earth over with a fork but I don't want any nasties to build up.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I have soil with Easibed in my WIR. They love scratching about in it . I put garden lime and Stalosan F down to combat any buildup of nasties .

[sandyhas3chucks]

an underbed storage box(plastic) makes a great dust bath for an Eglu run(long and thin ish. and good for scatching in you can change the soil when ever you like

[Boybeck]

I've gone back to aubiose today, so much cleaner. The underbed storage box for soil is a great idea.

[sandyhas3chucks]

I've gone back to aubiose today, so much cleaner. The underbed storage box for soil is a great idea.

mine love it! and all the holiday hens, they also think the branch I put in the length of the run is fun too!

[coco]

I have bare earth with Rapport on top in a covered run. The girls love digging in it. It looks lovely and clean at the moment as I changed the Rapport yesterday. I raked all the old stuff out but some Stalosan down with the new Rapport on top.