Run-Pea Gravel-Feathers

[katgyrl]

I have a small run for 3 chickens with an elevated coop. My yard had been landscaped with river rock before we purchased it. I dug out the rock and landscaping fabric and placed the coop on the soil and then filled the run with pea gravel. I use wood shavings inside the coop itself and this usually get scratched around and mixed below with the pea gravel. I have a weekly routine of raking the gravel/wood mix and spraying it down with water to start dissolving the poop and that seems to work so far. We live in CO so it’s extremely dry and the run dries pretty quickly. I’m new to chickens and I didn’t take into account how many feathers I would be dealing with when they molted. So now I have a gravel/wood/feather mix in my run. Short of literally hand picking all the feathers out I don’t know what to do. Will they decompose with the poop/wood?

 

[nuthatched]

You could rake up the feathers or leave them, they'll break down eventually.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

They do break down. I toss poo, shavings and feathers in my garden all winter and the feathers are gone by spring.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Feathers decompose which is why many folks deliberately add them to their compost.

Your litter management sounds like it's okay for now but it's generally not recommended to use gravel or to add water to run litter in general as you could eventually end up with a situation where you get poop is composting anaerobically under the gravel, causing odor issues.

 

[KyCoop]

When they molt it will look like a chicken exploded in your coop and run. Even if they molt one at a time it's a LOT of feathers.
Maybe try a leaf blower to get them out?

I'm a raker/ scooper so I prefer sawdust-dirt. If you run is covered that would be an option.