Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[dgreenster]

We are two week old chook newbies and like everyone here utterly in love with our three chickens . We have an eglu and extended run...love the ease of cleaning the eglu but have a query about keeping the run clean. We have it on our lawn in the garden and have been moving it weekly , our ladies get about an hour fr each day but only under supervision due to mr fox ... So they are in the run a lot and I gets quite mucky. I have read on the forum about poo picking etc but how on earth do you do that through run door !! Do we need to worry about the build up of poop in the run over a week... I have been sprinkling some of the sanitising powder on the ground in the run ( again not easy through the run mesh...) to keep flies at bay... Especially when it was hot last week. So any advice gratefully received... Is a weeks poo acceptable fo them to be walking over...??? Thank you

[chestnutmare]

Do you have an Eglu Classic directly on the ground?

 

I personally wouldn't poo pick. What we used to do (and it was back breaking lifting the with 3m run!) was put wood chip (not bark) inside the run. Then every month or so pick the Eglu up, put down Stalason and fresh wood chip. I prefer to do a complete clean of the run every few weeks rather than poo pick. There's no way I'd break my back poo picking by lifting an Eglu and extended run up every day. With the chickens stratching around, the poo soon moves around and fresh wood chip gets to the top.

 

If you use the wood chip method (I get mine from B&Q), you could add a little Stalason (or equivalent) every few days and rake it over.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I think most people realise that moving the run regularly really isn't practical and site their run on a permanent patch. You can put it on concrete if you have some or an empty patch of flowerbed is ideal as then it's possible to dig it over. My run used to be on a flowerbed and I used Hemcore or Easibed (you need to cover the run in wet weather as they are very absorbant). The poop gets dried up by the bedding and gets kicked about so it doesn't build up. Every few months you can lift the whole eglu plus run to the side, remove the top layer, turn the soil over, put down Stalosan and garden lime and a new layer of bedding and pop the whole thing back.

[kissinuk]

Here's my tips, I have tried everything in the past from grass, hemcore, wood chips, bark and straw.

 

When just on grass/soil I found the smell to be build up as it was difficult to remove all decaying poop from the soil. I therefore placed down slabs and it made a massive difference, so much easier to clean. I found hemcore to be far too unpredictable, it blew about too much and was rubbish in the rain. Bark was messy (and as I later found out can possibly cause issues due to mould). However I do have some bark around the run that they like to dig in when free ranging and it has never caused any problems.

 

So that leaves straw and wood chips, most people on here will tell you wood chips are the best, however I disagree. I have used them and while they last a long time the smell does build up as the are difficult to wash away poop, this is especially difficult is you are currently in a hose pipe ban! Also they were too expensive to replace regularly.

 

Straw on the other hand lasts okay in the rain (if changed weekly), is very easy to change and is very cost effective. I get a massive bale from Welland Valley Feeds and it only costs £2.50! One bale lasts me for weeks, even though it is replaced weekly, doing this means there is never a nasty niff in the air around my eglu!

 

So my tips are slabs with a good layer of straw on top changed weekly.