What do you use in your run on red clay

[Lexie27]

If you’re able to work up your clay at all, even a few inches, that decomposing organic matter will add humus to the clay and release the clay’s fertility (by improving the soil structure.)

Thank you!

 

[DobieLover]

If you’re able to work up your clay at all

That's what the chickens are for.

 

[BecksNesting]

My two runs are also covered, and since I have been dealing with red clay too, I have found the organic method is great.

If you can buy shavings from an Amish community, that will save you tons of money.

We have essentially copied the concept of greenhouses for our two 7'x 9' x 32' runs that are connected to our 10' x 10' coop. So, we have tin on top of our hoop runs, with 6ml plastic on the sides where we can roll them up or down as the weather changes. Plus, we have aluminum gutters where the long pipes lay down into during rainy weather. The runs are dry and have a great eco-system now and I rarely have to add shaving like I did before. I will periodically add agricultural lime to keep everything tidy.

 

[BecksNesting]

We haven’t started building yet, it will be a 16’x10’ run under cover, at a slight slope (less than 4” in 16’ if I remember what my husband said correctly).
We are planning 8 inch concrete blocks sub surface.
The existing soil is red clay. What should we use for run material?
Should we use crushed run graduated to pea gravel to sand?
Really not fans of DLM, I’m home, and as first time chicken owner will be hanging with the bird herd a lot.
ETA: I couldn’t find a similar thread on a Quick Look through, so if you know of one, feel free to point me in that direction.

Please advise, and thank you.

Appreciate y’all.

Oh, another thing watch out for sand fleas if you plan to use that. Another thing or two to have on hand is Diatomaceous Earth for the chickens to dust in. I just couple scoops here and there throughout the runs and even in the nesting boxes. No lice problems or anything. The inspector commented that my chickens were very healthy and ... fat, lol.

 

[BDutch]

If you can buy shavings from an Amish community, that will save you tons of money.

For maintenance you can use your own wood from pruning if you have a garden with trees and bushes. I bought a wood shredder to add new rough shavings to the run.

Really not fans of DLM, I’m home, and as first time chicken owner will be hanging with the bird herd a lot.

If you are planning to free range the chickens, bushes are a must have to hide from predators. Free ranging has benefits for their health, and you make it sound as a possibility! Even you only can do this supervised, less than 1 hour each day, the chickens will love it.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Because of INTENSE predator pressure I cannot free range. Also have Alabama red clay. My runs are 12 x 24 and 12 x 36. No sand (it does stink when wet). Just going on 20 years of wood shavings, bales of straw, DE, AG lime but not lime pellets (which the chicks try to eat), some chopped garden waste. All my runs are covered by shade cloth. No upkeep/cleaning to speak of. No smell. No flies. Occasional puddles after spring downpours, which I trench out to drain.

HTH

 

[BecksNesting]

I definitely have intense predator pressure too. Our runs don't need any additional shavings. We have a perfectly balanced eco system going now after changing from shavings to finer shavings and heavy saw dust combination we buy from the Amish. That's also due to having covered runs and sides that operate like greenhouses. We can have 3"-5" inches of hard rain and the runs are dry! I add ag lime on occasion, and areas of diatomaceous earth. Oh, and I put a shallow tub with sand just to aid the chickens digestion.