Solitary chicken - need advice

[sevenoceans]

Hi, I had been member on this site for yonks! But never had the need to ask anything until now!

 

Intro:- I had eglu classic for nearly 3 years, fantastic stuff! When I got it I had 3 little pekins (clover and nutmeg both frizzle and ginger) sadly Clover died in February and Ginger in July, I had to get more chickens for Nutmeg as she was alone, came home with Wyandotte called saffron, a Orpington called Autumn and I had to be persuaded to take Willow the sablepoot! She is a hooligan as I discovered after bringing her home!

 

I had no problems with garden and them being in it, they free range BUT the little hooligan cannot be trusted! She flies over to neighbours gardens! So this come to question! I have just purchased an extension to the run of the eglu classic, and with recent storms the ground had become a mud bath! Is there any way of increasing the depth of the flooring without adding more soil (normally put more soil/compost in for them to scratch about) such as wood bark or anything like that? It needs to be minimum maintenance as I work full time and the light is limited.

 

Another thing is grass.... I have no grass at all since these lot arrived! Plan to keep them in the run for while and then get some sort of fencing to fence off part of the garden. I am wondering which is best way of replacing the grass, at some point they will be allowed to roam and eat grass...

 

Like everyone do, we want the best for our chickens....

 

Kind regards

 

Me, the dog, the kitten, and 4 chickens

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Welcome .

 

You could use some sort of horse bedding (Easibed, Aubiose & others). It's great stuff, very absorbent and poops almost disappear! It does need to be kept dry though, so some sort of cover is vital. I used to use clear corrugated plastic sheets on my classic run.

[Patricia W]

I agree with ANH. Covering the run is vital, and if I were you, I'd give up on the grass idea. The only way to have grass is to keep the chickens off it. I think many of us learn this the hard way!