Brea Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Well, our Eglu arrived and I absolutely love it! The chickens especially like it - started scratching about the instant I put them in there and they haven't stopped. My daughter thinks they should be wearing hard yellow construction helmets since they have dug some pretty deep holes and done quite a bit of landscaping since they went in there last week. That ground was incredibly hard - we had a job getting a spade into the ground but they've turned it into soft earth and dug so deep they've actually hit tree roots. Is this normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Yes it is..I once had a back garden , no more We live where the ground is thick clay you could make pots out of it , There was also the buiders rubble from 35 years ago when the house was built and they bulldozed over the lot ...I keep finding things never before seen.,, toy soldiers from my son playing the back garden (he is now in his 30 s ) and this morning a pencil still sharp and working . not a flower would grow except the occasional rose bush. Our soil now is lovely all fine soil and some plants would love to be there especcially with the chicken poo dug in ..and that is in 3 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennym Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Not only normal but useful - smallholders use chickens to till & fertilise areas to prepare them for next year's crops, or so I've heard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brea Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 I can see it's useful - crikey...they've done a fantastic job in just one week lol! Our soil is also heavy clay and basically, we can't grow very much at all apart from trees and bind weed (gave up with grass a long time ago). They've totally gone through it (in the area of the run), turned it over, found a golf ball, a Victorian ceramic light pull and several of those plastic golf things. I think after a few months, I will move the eglu around so they can really sort the soil out. The only thing is that the area where they lay, they keep turfing the bedding out. I've put sawdust in there, that went out the door, shredded paper, that too went out the door. They were okay with their bedding in the wooden coop - guess it must be the shape of the nesting area. Think I will try some of the horse bedding and see if that works any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiffs Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Ideally, if they're stripping the soil, you should move the run once a week, so they're not pecking at ground covered in poopies etc, as it encourages parasites. You can get your garden cultivated in a matter of weeks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennym Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I've put sawdust in there, that went out the door, shredded paper, that too went out the door. After trying these as well we switched to straw for exactly that reason. The straw seems to stay put. I wouldn't use hay though - too much organic matter in it and it rots and encourages mould/spores. But lots of people rave about aubiose/easibed, so do try it if you want to. I just have an easy supply of straw (I'm a horsey-person ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiffs Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Mine eat the straw in their nest box, it's empty now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 They're also very good at raking all the leaves out from bits of the garden you can't get to with a rake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
