What should I put at the bottom of my runn?

[gyzmo]

We have been moving our chickens to different parts of our property to fertilize the ground but it’s gotten to the point where all the ground it fertilized and we aren’t planting anything on it at the moment anyway so we’ve decided on making a permanent runn. The only thing is we don’t know much about is what to put at the bottom of it. We will have their coop on the outside of the runn and it will feed into the run so they have a full run to be in but it gets muddy fast and we don’t know what to put down that would be the easiest. Any ideas?? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

 

[MamaPoult]

I use sand in mine. They love it to scratch and also make dust baths! And it doesnt get muddy.

 

[DobieLover]

It depends on where you live and if the run has a roof to keep it relatively dry. Is your run on high ground that slopes away from it in all directions? If not, that could be contributing to it being muddy.

I like wood chips in my run. They drain well and cold compost the poop load. I positioned my run on high ground all the way around and it has a solid roof to divert water away.

 

[Huntmaster]

We have been moving our chickens to different parts of our property to fertilize the ground but it’s gotten to the point where all the ground it fertilized and we aren’t planting anything on it at the moment anyway so we’ve decided on making a permanent runn. The only thing is we don’t know much about is what to put at the bottom of it. We will have their coop on the outside of the runn and it will feed into the run so they have a full run to be in but it gets muddy fast and we don’t know what to put down that would be the easiest. Any ideas?? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Course wood chips is one of the best options for run. Many municipalities have dump sites with course wood chips for free, or maybe contact a tree trimming service as they are sometimes looking to dump a load for free. Just watch buying big store bagged chips as they may have things added that wouldn't be good for your birds.

 

[gyzmo]

It depends on where you live and if the run has a roof to keep it relatively dry. Is your run on high ground that slopes away from it in all directions? If not, that could be contributing to it being muddy.

I like wood chips in my run. They drain well and cold compost the poop load. I positioned my run on high ground all the way around and it has a solid roof to divert water away.

It does not have a roof cause they just go in the coop when it rains. We’ve yet to fully figure out where we want to move it permanently so that’s something we’ll take into consideration!!

 

[Penpal]

The roof would be to help the run be less wet. You can also put a French drain in if rain is a big problem.

 

[aart]

Is your run on high ground that slopes away from it in all directions? If not, that could be contributing to it being muddy.

Ditto Dat^^!!

My run doesn't have a solid roof, I did have to do some trenching to keep the nearby run off from flooding the run.
Coarse wood chippings from a tree trimmer have worked well here for 12 years.

I add some dry leaves, grass on occasion, but they are not needed.

Am lucky to have lots of space to have a load or two dumped every couple few years.