stephent Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 We have had our chickens for around 2 years now and to be honest, cleaning out their run is getting very tedious. We have an eglu with a fenced off run of at least 2m x 5m for 3 birds. The area is on very dense clay soil, so drainage is a problem. To combat this we have tried a number of soultions. 1 - Woodchip. This worked well but soon becomes boggy and difficult to clear out. 2 - Straw - This doesnt last very long at all 3 - paving slabs - This is our current solution and does keep their feet dry, but the run does smell. We have only paved half of the run, the other half is under cover. The poo just sits on top of the slabs and means that walking into the run is a bit of a hazard. Also the bits around the slabs are just standing water/ mud/ poo, so doesnt look or smell very nice. I am looking for an alternative solution, which will be a bit cleaner, easier to clean etc... We now have a baby so have less time to spend, clearing them out. I was thinking of gravel. Maybe 20mm stone, about 6 inches deep? How has everyone else found this sort of solution? Can anyone recommend any other solutions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenthelibrarian Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 My sympathy - we are on clay here and it's a pain. We have the normal Eglu Classic run, with an extension section, and my husband has made a 'roof' for it of clear corrugated plastic sheet stuff, lashed on with cord. Not very pretty, but keeps the worst of the rain off and allows light in. This has been recommended here a few times, might be worth a look? I do think you'd need a deep soak-away layer underneath, so lots of digging... http://www.newlandgrange.com/CHICKEN-RUN-MUD-MANAGEMENT%281720020%29.htm Our next job is a path or stepping-stone slabs up to the run, walking up the grass over the winter has compacted it into an oddly squelchy but solid slimy mess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 My run is covered with a large, clear tarp, I have a slabbed base with Aubiose covering and it works very well.. no wet, smell or anything like that. If you look back through old posts I think you will find that gravel and rubber chips are both very difficult to clean. Do remember that chickens with damp or muddy feet will be more inclined to fungal and bacterial foot and leg problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I have gravel in some areas of my garden and I would not recommend it for a fenced in run as chicken poo seems to sort of disappear into it and can get smelly. You can hose it but if you are on clay this will make a nasty yucky mess. I'd do as Dogmother does and ensure your run is water proof, then use aubiose which is so easy to poo pick and does not get nearly as smelly as other flooring. There is an article in Practical Poultry Feb edition all about rubber chips but I have not tried it and the guy writing the article did a lot of digging work before putting it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
good_egg Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 We have horrible clay soil and when I first dug the area for the chickens it ended up a pond!! We dug French drains and filled them with gravel then covered in membrane and have used bark, easibed and bliss at different times. The easibed and bliss are nicer as the poo sticks to them and is easy to remove, but needs to be covered. The bark, which we have now, is longer lasting but I'm not liking it so much. We are having to re do our area as the girls have dug up the membrane so the link that jenthelibrarian suggested looks good cos otherwise our drainage has held up. As we are hoping to build WIR we are planning to change to slabs with something on top - bark or easibed or bliss still to be determined. Have you considered keeping the slabs and putting something on top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 We did rubber chips when we had the cube run..... Worst mistake I ever made.... Smelly, impossible to clean, etc etc. was horrendous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Your run area sounds very similar to mine. We used to have gravel quite deep but we got rid of it and replaced it with the paving stones. The gravel ended up just a pile of sludgey poop which only looked nice when it was wet on top. The paving stones have been much better. I bought some children's garden tools - one like a hoe which is brilliant for s"Ooops, word censored!"ing the poo of the patio bit - much better than on my hands and knees with an ice s"Ooops, word censored!"er, a broom and a rake. The hoe thing is fab and s"Ooops, word censored!"es the poo in no time and I use the broom to give the patio bit a good scrub. It really doesn't take very long and I'm sure if I did it for a few minutes every day it would be even quicker. I wouldn't recommend changing to gravel personally. I know time is short when you have little ones but I wouldn't have gravel again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 We did rubber chips when we had the cube run..... Worst mistake I ever made.... Smelly, impossible to clean, etc etc. was horrendous. Ahh, that's who I remembered having problems with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
