Chicken bald back

[CazBlanc]

Hi,

First post.

Have a nice, secure, walkin 2.4m x 1.8m run and an eglu classic. We got our 3 girls on Wednesday and they have settled very well.

Our run is just on the grass.

I have questions on cleaniness

1) In a day, there is lots of poop all over their run. I have been picking the worst of this up before I let them out and giving it a light hose (which is ok as it is really dry and warm at the moment but could create a mudbath at other times)

Does anyone have any advice/tips on how I keep this area relatively clean?

 

2) I am putting fresh paper in the tray, washing the roosting bars and replacing soiled nest box bedding each day. Is this correct? I had read in other stuff that you only need to clean once a week but maybe that is only a deep, disinfecting clean?

 

Just want to be doing things right by the girls,

Hopefully you really experience people can make sure our mucking out is top notch.

Regds

Caz

[Patricia W]

Use aubiose, or similar. For this you'll need a covered run. But it's the only way I've found to keep them mud free, and clean.

It doesn't need replacing that often either. In my Omlet and cube runs, (which are covered, but on earth not slabs) I replace it about every 2-3 months.

[WitchHazel]

Congratulations on getting your Girls!

 

I keep my girls in a Cube, but the principle is probably the same. I used to line the poo trays with newspaper and then cover with Aubiose. However, I found that the newspaper seemed to wick up moisture, and now I don't bother with it. I just put Aubiose in the poo tray.

 

I empty the poo trays and wipe the roosting bars as often as they need it. I have 6 girls in a cube and at this time of year they aren't roosting for that long, so it's probably every week to 10 days. In the winter its every 5-7 days. In an eglu, with smaller floor space, it's probably more frequent than that.

 

In the nestbox I just hoik out any poo each day when I check for eggs. I replace the nest box material (again Aubiose) completely when I do a thorough clean. I used to do a thorough clean every week, but I now do it about once a month.

 

Regarding the run, the best long term option is to put something in the run. Again, I use a hemp product (Hemcore if I can get it, because it has citronella - which acts as a fly repellent - added, otherwise Aubiose), However, there isn't any point you putting this in unless your run is covered up against rain, and you would need something along the sides to stop the Aubiose getting kicked out. I have a walk in run which has roof panels, but the Cube is outside it and I use a clear tarp on the Cube run to keep it dry.

 

Others will be along shortly with their alternatives

Hope that helps.

[Nikipins]

I'm afraid to say that if your run is in a permanent position it will not take long for the chicks to wreck the grass and start to dig holes, they really are feathered vandals. This is not so much of a problem in the summer but in the winter can turn the area into a mud bath. I found the best solution was to follow the advice from Sarah at newland poultry ( have a look at her website) and put some lawn protection mesh down and then cover with woodchips. The mesh prevents the chicks digging holes but allows the area to drain and so keeps the mud at bay. The chicks love the woodchips scratching and kicking them everywhere. In the summer I hose the wood chip periodically to clean it and dust it with stalosan to kill off any nasties, in the winter I put a cover over the run to provide protection taking it off occasionally to let the rain wash the clippings. Other people will have a different solution, a number of people site the run on slabs with woodchips/auboise on top which gives added protection from foxes digging in but means the slabs have to be cleaned and redressed regularly as there is no drainage.

 

Enjoy your chickens.

[mollyripkim]

Hi, congratulations on your girls and welcome to the forum.

I started off on grass too but it got so messy so now have omlet WIR on a concrete base with hard woodchip. In the winter it was covered most of the time to keep the girls dry but I have rolled up the covers for the summer. I poo pick daily and change the newspaper in the cube daily, then sanitise with Stalostan fortnightly and the roosting bars when needed, sometimes weeky, sometimes more often. I find they don't get so mucky in the summer as a leave the cube door open so the girls get up earlier.

I love the woodchip as it lasts so long, four to six months but is a big job removing it all, last time we had a skip anyway so it was easier. I use 10 bags from flytes of fancy so quite expensive, I like it too as it doesn't end up all over the garden.

Hope you have fun with your chickens.

[kissinuk]

I have slabs down in the run and put a thick layer of straw on top changed weekly. It's very easy to clean, I just s"Ooops, word censored!"e any mess off the slabs each week and put the straw in the garden waste, theres never any smells.

 

I get large bales of straw from Welland Valley Feeds for only £2.50 a bale, lasts for weeks!