What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[simonw999]

Hello everybody.

Great site, full of good tips and info for people like me.

We have just become the proud owners of a second hand GoUp with 2m run.

 

We have a corner of the garden earmarked for this and we are going to add 3 chicken to finish it all off.
Currently the ground has some grass & weeds which I am thinking of leaving as is until the chickens have scratched it down, then we have hardwood chips to put down.
What will the cleaning regime be for this area?
Does anyone else have any experience of using the hardwood chip directly onto ground?

We are thinking of using paper from the shredder for the nesting area in the GoUp, again is this suitable?

The ladder supplied has no grips and appears as if it never has. Are these necessary? would Zinc Oxide tape suffice, or should I build a wooden ramp instead?

What should we be using as a dust bath. Any tips?

I will post some picture when it's all finished and set up.

 

Thanks in advance for any replies and I'm sure to be back with more questions.

 

 

 

[Natspringy]

Hello! 

Can't help with all but I have woodchips straight on the ground, I was advised go do this by flyte so fancy who I bought them from. They seem pretty knowledgable on their chickens. For cleaning I pick out poos and rake daily then weekly sanitise with sanitising powder.  I intend to monthly disinfect with nettex disinfectant too. Pretty easy to clean as wood chips. As ground I'd poo pick and sprinkle with a sanitiser weekly too.

 

Re bedding, I use a product recommended by bhwt it's called fresh bed.  You get a huge bag for the price of and is  treated for mites. Seems to work for us and I like any extra mite help!  I think some people found that their chickens were eating the paper but not 100% on that. 

We've tried various dust baths but ours just dug their own holes and preferred that so we keep those free of wood chips. Otherwise things like a trug can be good or a cat litter tray. 

Hope that helps!  Enjoy your new chickens, they are amazing pets!

[The Dogmother]

Woodchips are fine in larger walk in runs, but tend not to be absorbent, nor do they compost well, so you may find that the run gets poo-y and smelly quicker. Quite a few of us use Aubiose, or a similar shredded hemp litter, with kickboards round the edges, sprinkle weekly with Ground Sanitising Powder and then muck out when necessary. Slabs under the litter are the easiest option as it's simpler to muck out, and keep clean between litter changes.

I'd suggest that you avoid using shredded paper, apart from the dampness issue, you'll find that they eat it and it will block up their crops.

Have fun!

 

[Patricia W]

I use aubiouse too in the run- which has to be covered, by the way, otherwise the aubiouse goes soggy.  I’ve tried hardwood chips, but they don’t work for me in the run.  Too hard to clean.  I do have some in the area outside the run where they wander during the day.  I gave up letting them free range in the garden when we ended up with no garden... now they have their bit and we have our bit... 

[Natspringy]

2 hours ago, The Dogmother said:

Woodchips are fine in larger walk in runs, but tend not to be absorbent, nor do they compost well, so you may find that the run gets poo-y and smelly quicker. Quite a few of us use Aubiose, or a similar shredded hemp litter, with kickboards round the edges, sprinkle weekly with Ground Sanitising Powder and then muck out when necessary. Slabs under the litter are the easiest option as it's simpler to muck out, and keep clean between litter changes.

I'd suggest that you avoid using shredded paper, apart from the dampness issue, you'll find that they eat it and it will block up their crops.

Have fun!

 

Sorry,  yes mine is a covered walk in so woodchips work as I can easily manage them going in each day.

[kambro]

I tried paper shreddings in the nesting box, but they ate it. I went back to the wood shavings in the nesting box but use the larger shreddings of paper under the poop tray. It’s all messy there. I just dump the whole thing in the compost bin. 

[Cat tails]

Instead of shredded paper, try just plain newspaper. I use three sets of three sheets of tabloid in the poop drawer.