[lord flynn]

for those of you that use this, do you only use it in covered pens? how does it fair if pens are not covered? I know bark isn't recommended, but does play bark have the same dangers?


thinking of some temporary accommodation over the winter for a few birds. I have a run I could use and cover and a paved area-just wondering what sort of surface is best.

[shygirl]

what about gravel/shingle? if just needs washing with a hosepipe.

[lord flynn]

yes, pea gravel/sharp sand is the other option. wasn't sure how hard that would be on their feet if it freezes hard though?

[doganjo]

I used wood bark for a  while but it sin't good for ducks as they try to eat it - hens peck around and through.  I agree with using cheap pea gravel - my new ducks are on  that - so easy to jet hose.

My hens were in that run previously and it doesn't seem to bother them.  They had straw in the shed and a wee wall they could jump onto but i rarely saw them doing that in the height of our really cold winter last year.

[chrismahon]

Wet woodchip lasts about 6 months. Dry wood chip doesn't seem to rot at all in my experience. It all gets scattered about though as the hens dig about a lot. We used to 'poo pick' every day to extend the life and reduce the smell. it was topped up as required and I guess ultimately it would need digging out and replacing as it would become a deep smelly mess. But after two years we hadn't got to that stage. Then we left and the last time I looked it had become a very fertile area indeed, but full of weeds not grass.


The wood chip we were using was actually shredded pine bark and small branches, mainly bark though. We had no problems with our Wyandottes on it. We had 16 on 35 square metres of which 8 square metres was covered. They used to free range for 3-4 hours a day as well, so stress from such a small enclosure wasn't evident.

[shygirl]

sand would be harder to clean - would stick to poop and might blow away if you have the winds we get. pea gravel should last a long while.

[darkbrowneggs]

If you can "muck out" and have a use for some excellent garden or field fertilizer why not try the Lady Balfour system. 


It was she who founded the Soil Association, and her flock was housed in a pen surrounded by a straw littered yard.  Outside the pen were three grass and clover runs.  The birds were allowed in the first grass run for 7 days, then the second then the third.  So each run had two weeks restinga llowing the grass to recover.  Obviously you need to be aware of suitable stocking rates otherwise you will end with a sea of mud in the pens, and when conditions are not suitable they should  kept penned in the straw yard.


The straw in the yard is topped up as required and at the end of the year completely mucked out and the system started again, and although yours wouldnt have the benefit of the grass run I dont see why the deep bedded yard bit shouldnt work for what you want


I first read about this in John Seymour's - Self Sufficiency written in 1970- the book which got me really keen on the self sufficient lifestyle but which sadly seems no longer in print.

[Eve]

I've just started using Eco Comfy Bed for outside - it's made from wooden pellets broken up into match stick sized pieces. So far it seems to work well in the rain, but I've only had it for a week 

[Bodger]

I've used peat as a floor covering in a covered pen. It neutralizes any whiffiness and you end up with a more than useful by- product for the garden when you're finished with it.

[lord flynn]

thanks for all of the input the problem I am having is the chicken pen out the back is waterlogged-not unsurprising given the biblical rain but there are strange things going on with the downpipes and drains (new house to us, previous occupants did some odd things) out the back-plus the guttering on the workshop needs fixing, all of which we will do but atm, I want that pen of chooks somewhere less horrid. I do want to build a permanent pen out there-with hardcore base and gravel surface with 2/3 grass pens running off it. Its obviously not something I can begin quite yet.they will always get grass, but that particular pen will get less than the others which have huge grass pens.


re the Balfour system-that is something to bear in mind for the future although I wasn't sure if the straw yard was on top of a concrete/hardcore base? what I had in mind is similar but I'm not convinced by deep littering and I don't have a need for compost/manure.


the eco bed looks like the easibed which I already use in their houses and nest boxes    it's free draining and might work. We also have a quarry nearby and I could go and pick up a ton of pea gravel easy enough.


next winter, I may even try a bachelor pen off grass and leave all of the girls on grass-would make my life easier. this winter is being invaluable in showing me what is not going to work here 

[Marches Farmer]

We have heavy rainfall and get all the poultry housed under cover over Winter months.  We mix the bits of hay the sheep pull from the hayracks with dust-extracted woodchips and, with a 3cm layer to start, muck out about every 10 weeks (depends on stocking density).  Tried bark chippings outside on concrete a couple of years ago.  Chippings just held the water and the gunk got trodden into the house, which then needed to be cleaned out every week - not a success.