Unsecure chicken perches

[ZoeBunny]

I have my girls on slabs with Auboise in a clear tarp covered run but somehow rain water is still getting in under the skirt - therefore my auboise is getting wet.

 

I've been changing the entire run bedding every 3 weeks but of course this is starting to get expensive. Is there something else I could mix in with the auboise to soak up the water a little & give me more time between complete run changes??

[The Dogmother]

The problem here is the slabs... I had an eglu on slabs and aubiose over last winter and the slabs caused the rain run-off to get under the covered run and along the paving. As the water can't readily drain, it tends to stay on the surface and create a wet mess of the aubiose. Obviously this presents a health issue to the hens so regular doing with some ground sanitising powder and replacing the bedding is necessary.

[ZoeBunny]

I've been putting Bio-Dry in the run too to sanitise it... but wondering whether a mix of auboise and bark or wood chip might be better for them in this situation

[squiffs]

Mine're on slabs, but I put pondliner over the slabs and then woodchip over the pondliner. The pondliner is so the slabs don't get messy/scratched (expensive patio ) and the woodchip is for their little tootsies

[pips_pekins]

Hi Zoebunny. My classic is on block paving not slabs. I have a generous layer of woodchip in a 3m run and I have washed it every week since putting it in a few weeks ago. It seems to dry fairly quickly and the girls love scratching around in it. I am not sure how different slabs are compared to the blocks for drainage but I have found the chips to be easy and cheaper than the same quantity of aubiose.

[ZoeBunny]

Thanks for all the replies... next time I clean out the run will put chips down only and see how that goes...

[Plum]

If it's the rain running off the run covering that's getting in the run then I used to fold up an edge at a slope and put a bucket at the edge to collect it I also found that if I let some dirt and mud collect in the mesh of the run skirt it stopped water running into the run.