Isabel and Ed Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Hi everyone! We have had our girls for about 6 weeks and they are loving life and laying eggs every day. Our garden isn't massive but they seem to scratch up areas of grass wherever we put the run and it is getting a bit worn out at the bottom of the garden. We are selling the house so don't want the garden to look too bad - any ideas of what I can put on the grass where we keep the run (we move it every 3 days but only have 4 or 5 places to move it to) - maybe bark or something??? Help...! Isabel & Ed PS thank you to the girls at the Royal Show who we met (was it scarlet / claret??) Ed bought me a purple one for my birthday by the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 It would be Claret Welcome to the forum. Look ...here....for advice on how to build a barked area. Mine are on paving slabs topped with Aubiose. Works very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabel and Ed Posted August 19, 2007 Author Share Posted August 19, 2007 Fab thank you! Do you need to change it after a few weeks as ours like to poo not only in the eglu but all round the run too Also, any advice on a dust bath as there doesn't seme to be anything to buy for them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 I change the Aubiose about every 6 weeks. Sometimes I top it up a bit if I'm short of time, and give it all a good blast with a power washer another day. I think it would be the same with bark. I've not had much luck providing dust baths,. In the past I've given them play sand or compost and they have just scattered it everywhere. They prefer to make their own by digging hollows in the ground and luxuriating in the loose earth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puffball Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Mine dig in the ground-although I think that dry soil (the sort you buy in garden centers) would probably work if they were able to dig in that? Hope I can help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabel and Ed Posted August 19, 2007 Author Share Posted August 19, 2007 That's great - thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 I'm a bit of a maverick - I do have a run for my girls, but they can get over the fence if they wish and I don't have a roof to the run. What I do have is chicken wire round the whole of the garden so they can't get out (well they could if they went right down to the gate, but they don't bother). So I'm pretty relaxed about the whole keeping them in business - they can roam the garden which spreads the poo about and evens out the scratching. They go back to bed at night by themselves - and up to now it seems to work fine. I'm sure people will rush to tell you that you must keep them in a run - I'm cool about that and understand that what works for me may not work for others, its just that I don't find I need to be so worried about penning them in; the whole garden is the run! Mind you, you should see my veg plot. I sow nice regular rows of lettuce, Georgie gets in there and scratches a bit, then my lettuces come up all over the place, mixed in with rocket, carrots and the rest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puffball Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Richard-that is exactly the reason we have a run, although that isn't much good at stopping them from eating the beetroot. At first we thought it was slugs but no-Gloria got to adventurous in the run and found a hole just big enough for them to sneak through. So far I have found them five times shamelessly eating our carrots and runner beans!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...