Solitary chicken - need advice

[Cheeronthechickens]

Hi, I'm getting my chickens on sunday (yay) and my cube on sat!! We went to a poultry last weekend, and he said to put the eglu cube on the grass and swithch every three months between two spots and grow back the grass while its on the other spot. I was planning on doing this but I saw some people had covered the area with bark. Is this better than the grass for both us and the chickens?! What are the pros and cons?! Do I need to switch the spots if I use bark?! Thanks so so much xx

[Chickabee]

You can use bark, but I found it got very smelly. I have one walk in run which I put paving slabs on then chopped straw. Some people use aubiose or white wood chip. It's easier to clean up. The other run is just on dirt now, but I do let mine free range. They also have a waterproof cover, so it's not a mud bath. Everyone has their own ideas really, that's just what works for me. I do rake the dirt.

[Jenthelibrarian]

There will be as many answers to this as there are chicken keepers on the forum

 

If you use the 'Search' box you'll find loads of info and [conflicting!] advice and there are photos around of different set-ups here and on the Omlet site pages.

 

If you value your grass don't keep chickens, or before they arrive fence off any precious nice lawn. They scratch and dig and you won't be wanting to use chemical 'feed and weed' products around them.

 

A lot will depend on the type and quality of the soil on your patch, and the drainage, and your use of raincovers. At the school where I work we have bantams in a well-covered WIR, the floor of which is very dry and hard compacted earth which doesn't get muddy. They have some straw strewn about to forage in.

 

At home I have hybrid hens on a permanent site. Our soil is stoney clay, dry and dusty in summer and muddy in the wet. We use bark chips [fine if you keep them clean and regularly sanitised and topped up with new] and have most of the run covered over the winter so it stays dry. We have paving slabs under their Grub and their Glug and their doorway, and one under the Eglu, too.

 

If you use bark, or wood chip or any other similar stuff you will want to make an edging or enclosure or it'll end up all over. We have wooden boards, similar to my raised veggie beds. Omlet sell posh plastic edging.

 

One of the biggest surprises of becoming a chook-keeper is their general messy habits and their ability to dig huge deep holes, shifting large heavy stones in the process.

 

Our theory? Long-lost friends in Australia, or a secret pirate treasure map they're not sharing

[heth1986]

As above really. Although I understand that generally, chickeny people don't recommend to site the runs on bark as it can hold mold spores which are no good for your ladies

 

Personally, I now keep mine on hardwood chip. Mine are on a permanent site, in a WIR which is not covered, the girls have bushes etc as shelter...

I started with grass, which lasted no more than one week. This wasn't really a problem until winter set in and the run quickly turned to mush . Thankfully, that was the VERY cold winter, the ground froze, and it didn't turn out to be too horrendous. The following Spring, I was back to mush and decided (after hours of internet trawls and google searches) to have my local tree surgeon deliver a load of wood chip. He was so kind and came straight to me after he'd pruned an orchard of fruit trees so the smell was divine! The run was now rather deep with wood chip and this has lasted around 2 years with regular poo picks and sanitation but now needs digging out and replacing before winter sets in, a job I'm not looking forward to!

 

As I say, my run is NOT covered so auboise etc would be disastrous in there. Many change their wood chip every few weeks but I understand that this would be a thinner layer than I have. If you plan to cover your run, then this would again be a whole different ball game!

[Princess Leia]

Yes, hardwood chippings, not bark. Check locally for a tree surgeon or company that deal with removing old trees. They are generally a good source for a bulk load at a much cheaper price than garden centres, etc.

[Patricia W]

The main thing is to make sure the run is covered or you'll just end up with a soggy mess. I'm an aubiose (or similar) fan as it's so light, and it's great on the garden afterwards once it's composted. You will need some edging around the run to keep it in or they kick it out. Enjoy!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Can't add much to the above advice but would just say that I have Easibed in my covered WIR but their freerange area is just soil. I use Stalosan F as a disinfectant in both areas.