Stoat killed hens asleep in the Eglu

[suzannejoy]

Hi , Hope you dont mind me asking but what do you use in the run of your chicken coop and why ? I was wondering if woodchips would be the best thing , any advise would be great.

[Olly]

You don't have to put anything down, but bare earth can get very muddy when it's wet, and hens enjoy having something to scratch about in. Woodchip is good; some people just use aubiose/hemcore or similar horse bedding. Rubber chippings have been used, but don't come with a great recommendation because they have to be hosed down. The other substances can be shovelled out and composted.

 

I use a mixture of home-produced woodchip, sawdust from where I've been cutting wood for the log-burner with my chainsaw, and aubiose. If you're just using aubiose, you'll need a cover of some sort on the run to stop it getting too wet. Straw is not recommended because it can harbour fungal spores, and I believe bark chippings can have the same problem.

[Dolly]

Aubiose is brilliant, really absorbent, but we're struggling to get it locally at the moment for some reason I'm currently trying Easibed which okay but not a patch on Aubiose.

[MummyHen]

Aubiose Aubiose and more Aubiose

Its brilliant stuff but you must keep moisture out so if you don't have a roof and some tarps for the sides then it'll get very wet and smelly

[AgaSaga]

Im in the same predicament, just building a walk in run now and was in two minds about what to put on floor, but ive decided Im going for woodchip. I place a post on here a week ago asking about rubber chips and the response was a big fat NO, avoid it at all costs. You can hose down the rubber chips, but the poo stays underneath them....urgh!

 

I read in Practical Poultry that you should change the wood chips every two months.

 

Hope this helps

[suzannejoy]

Thankyou for your replies , does anyone know if cozy coop from omelette shop the same as ambiose ?

[staceychristie]

Hemcore every time, better than easibed in my experience. I tried moving the house onto clean grass, but only have a back garden, and soon ran out of grass

SO, dug out a weed bed, laid slabs, put run and house on it, then added hemcore. Great to pick up poo from as it all sticks together. Needs changing maybe every few months. Also use the powder 'Stalasan' to keep worms etc down.

Smells nice too.

 

Good luck

 

Stacey

[BocBoc]

We use wood chips and replace them every couple of months. The girls do kick them all over the place so if you can, pop something at the sides of the run to keep the chips from going too far!