Grass-less Dirty Chicken Run

[Ascholten]

Do know up front though, even though you provided your 20 hens with 5 or 6 individualized nesting boxes to accommodate all their egg laying needs in comfort, they will all fight over box 3, left corner to lay their eggs in

If I may add to 3B's comments, most people eventually have to do 'something' with the run bottoms. Sooner or later you will need to remove all the stuff that's built up over time. Rare is the coop where it just magically, is not a problem. Most people compost it, use it for other gardening needs, or sell / barter it with others who will. Almost nobody just bags it up and throws it in the trash.

With that being said, having a varied mix to begin with on the bottom. Green / Brown compost material, just makes it really, Ready to go out of the box. Shovel it out and you can immediately use it in your flower beds, veggie rows, whatever, with minimal extra work needed to 'make' it ready. Little time savers mean a lot in the life of a gardener !

Aaron

 

[3KillerBs]

Do know up front though, even though you provided your 20 hens with 5 or 6 individualized nesting boxes to accommodate all their egg laying needs in comfort, they will all fight over box 3, left corner to lay their eggs in

And then the broody in box 2 will drive them all out so she can change boxes to sit on the larger clutch.

 

[RoyalChick]

Do know up front though, even though you provided your 20 hens with 5 or 6 individualized nesting boxes to accommodate all their egg laying needs in comfort, they will all fight over box 3, left corner to lay their eggs in

If I may add to 3B's comments, most people eventually have to do 'something' with the run bottoms. Sooner or later you will need to remove all the stuff that's built up over time. Rare is the coop where it just magically, is not a problem. Most people compost it, use it for other gardening needs, or sell / barter it with others who will. Almost nobody just bags it up and throws it in the trash.

With that being said, having a varied mix to begin with on the bottom. Green / Brown compost material, just makes it really, Ready to go out of the box. Shovel it out and you can immediately use it in your flower beds, veggie rows, whatever, with minimal extra work needed to 'make' it ready. Little time savers mean a lot in the life of a gardener !

Aaron

I am not so systematic. Around planting time I go into the run with a bucket and dig up wonderful compost that has magically been created by my lovely ladies when I wasn't watching. Every now and then I dig up a corn cob that is still whole and have to throw that back in for a second go-around.

 

[Ted Brown]

... At about 4 weeks is when the magic stats though.

...about the 4 week mark you will notice that pine shavings have mixed fairly well into the 'dirt' now, and it's back to looking like dirt. The plants are all gone, the roots are pretty much tore up, in fact they may even have bowls carved out for dust baths in here. This little 'microcosym' has kind of balanced out now and is doing what nature intended. It's composting on it's own. Any new poop, quickly gets absorbed by the ground 'dirt' which has the consistancy of loose dirt now, the flies are gone, and the stink is miminal.
...

Is this actually accurate?

I deep litter in my run, three+ years have not done anything other than add deciduous leaves every fall. BUT, I did not know that a natural state was possible and assumed I would have a stinky mess following this process.

 

[Ascholten]

It all depends on 'your' situation Ted. Some people have just enough birds that the natural decomposition can keep up with what the birds produce, and between them scratching and throwing dirt all over, especially when they find worms !! that they don't have to remove any of the bedding.

If it's rainy season and you are getting an inch of rain every day, then no it may take longer for you because everything is so wet. If it's winter and you live up north, then no, it won't work that way if everything is frozen.

From my experience I find that it takes about 4 weeks for the grass to get 'gone' via chicken pickin, the crap matting because the ground is still hard and packed grass roots not dug up yet. and the fly infestation because you got un 'being worked with' crap laying on packed grass, that the flies can get right into.-- to the point where the ground HAS been dug up, HAS been mixed with the pine shavings they also threw all over at this point, as they dug in there for bug goodies, the dirt HAS been dug a few inches deep so is now, loose and fluffy because it's being dug up and turned over and it's doing its thing

BECAUSE it is loose and getting 'new stuff' in it, it now attracts worms, who also eat left over food and chicken crap. The worms dig in from below. The worms attract chickens, who dig even further now, to find more worms, which also further mixes the stuff up, digs the hard stuff to soft mixed up stuff, deeper. soon you have 4 to 6 inches of nice worked compost, very loose, which lends to very good drainage, which also leads to very quick encapsulation of any new crap that hits it, .. it quickly surrounds it, the dust and dirt sticks, and it gets quickly mixed down into the rest of the composting compost. This keeps the smell to a minimum, and the flies are not really there anymore either.

It is very possible to reach a state of an equilibrium if you are not pushing the process harder than what it can naturally sustain, depending on your condition.

Another thing to consider. many people dig the compost out, not because they have to, because it's overflowing, but because they WANT IT. This stuff is black gold in gardens. I will rake mine once a month, to get the goodies, but leave just enough that it can still sustain itself, to continue the process.

if you have gone 3 years just adding stuff, then your process is already well going. Did you honestly think 3 years worth of poo would just sit there doing nothing? and NOT stink or turn into a 5 foot pile, without Something happening?

The fact that you are, or even sometimes HAVE to ADD to it shows that it is working. BTW worms will also take along with them, compost as well. If you ever had an oudside composter that was not an entirely enclosed container, you will notice that not only IN it is compost but the whole area around it probably for 4 to 5 feet is all soft, mixed up, super rich soil, because the worms carrying stuff with them OUT of the original contained area.


aaron

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm curious about this post. My run has been completely bare and now covered with pine shavings because of the rain. You said you deep litter your run. I find that appealing. Is the nitrogen from the chickens enough to help degrade the carbon or am I looking at this wrong?

It's perfectly possible.

It might take some trial and error and a little luck with the weather to get the balance right, but getting an active cold-composting system going in your run is quite feasible for most situations.

 

[NatJ]

In horse circles people commonly warn of the dangers.
I'm on lots of horse groups, here's an example...

"Is it okay to let my horse graze on my front lawn?"
"Is it okay to give my horse grass clippings?"

"No! Not if you used a gas mower! Combustion exhaust! A pasture cut with a drag behind a tractor (exhaust up high) is just fine though. If your lawn received rain after the gas mowing then it should be okay."

Ah, that would explain why I haven't seen it.
Common concerns can be different for one animal than another.

So, you asked for sources as though I claimed a solid fact. I worded my earlier post "I had heard" purposely to imply this was grapevine anecdote.

I meant, "where did you hear that?" Thanks for explaining. (I consider blogs and personal conversations to be "sources" too. I wasn't trying to limit it to books and scientific studies, or anything of the sort.)

It's one of those safety issues where it makes more sense to avoid the potential danger when there isn't a solid gain to be had from taking chances.

But OP is getting a solid gain-- keeping their run in good shape, and keeping the chickens happy, with no obvious health problems.

Chickens may not eat much of the mower clippings, but I would think pecking through it could be equally problematic.

The horses would be actually eating all the grass clippings, not just a nibble here and there like the chickens. So if any problems do happen, I would expect horses to have more trouble than chickens.

 

[Quadzilla32]

I'm in the same boat as OP with the exception of smelling. My run floor is dirt and is completely covered so not that much rain gets in. I like the idea of possibly putting mulch into the run my only hesitancy is doesn't the larger mulch make is difficult to rake and clean the run, such as cleaning up poop and random craps?

 

[Unswydd]

It's perfectly possible.

It might take some trial and error and a little luck with the weather to get the balance right, but getting an active cold-composting system going in your run is quite feasible for most situations.

Thanks. My run is under some wonderful Orange Osage trees so it's covered very well, doesn't get muddy but it does get wet. The ground is still hard as a rock as the girls have only been in there for 3 months. I'm wondering if I need to get the rake in there to help move it around a bit or just wait. It's nowhere near fluffy.

 

[NatJ]

doesn't the larger mulch make is difficult to rake and clean the run, such as cleaning up poop and random craps?

It's a different way to manage the run: instead of the person cleaning up the poop and removing it, the poop and the mulch slowly decompose. When it works right, it doesn't stink, saves work for the person, and seems to suit the chickens very well. (If it doesn't work right, that is often because it is too wet, or because there are too many chickens for the amount of space & mulch. There can be other problems, but those seem to be the most common two.)