Many people start out with their chicken coop and run on grass, but as we chicken people know, grass will not last long around chickens. Wood chips help keep the run from getting muddy, especially since we have an open section with our pergola.
The obvious answer might seem to be grass, and if you have a big enough area, grass is ideal. Chickens can spend their day happily scratching around for bugs, and creating their own dustbaths in whatever shade they can find.
Ground cover within the coop can be anything from wood chips, straw and grass to bare ground. Organic materials tend to break down quickly and plain sand is a popular choice for its durability. Whatever you choose, make sure the chickens may easily scratch and dig.
Paper, whether it's flat newspaper, shredded junk mail, or paper towels are not the ideal bedding for the chicken coop. Paper isn't especially absorbent, so it won't do you any favors with the mess and the smell. Flat paper is also not good for the chickens' feet, as they slide around too much on it.
Senior Editor • Backyard Chicken Coops
Giving hens access to fresh grass is essential to their well being, because of all the goodies in the grass (think bugs, grit, insects and other tasty morsels!)
Grass and Lawn Clippings
Fresh grass or lawn clippings can substitute chicken feed for up to 20 percent of the chicken's diet.
Chicken run covers are an essential part of keeping your flock healthy and happy. They offer shade in summer, act as an umbrella during downpours, and keep debris from falling through the top of the run.
Bedding for the Chicken Run
Adding fall leaves to the chicken yard or coop is a great way to entertain your flock, as well as provide a litter/bedding material for them to do their business in. Chickens absolutely adore playing in fall leaves. They kick them and search under them for tasty bugs.
While not common, providing chickens a bale of straw or hay can be a good thing. It's an inexpensive way to provide food and a little entertainment to these animals. A bale in a chicken run gives birds the opportunity to search for a variety of tasty treats.
Medium- to coarse-grained sand makes excellent chicken coop bedding in coops that do not have drainage problems and do not get wet inside.
Similarly, if you are using bedding on your bare earth floor and it gets wet, your chicken coop will be at a high risk for the growth of dangerous mold and bacteria. The bottom line is this: Do not consider a chicken coop without a floor, unless you have sandy soil that drains very well.
However, if the run is always muddy, you are inviting trouble as well as sickness. As chickens walk through the mud, their droppings will grow bacteria. Hens then transfer this throughout the run and also the chicken coop. Parasites that make chickens ill, like coccidia and worms, thrive and spread in muddy conditions.
Give Treats
Just like other animals, chickens love treats. Great treat options include cooked oatmeal, greens like kale and spinach, pumpkin, and scratch grains. You can also occasionally hang things like heads of cabbage or suet blocks in their run for the chickens to peck.
Sand. Sand is an inexpensive choice to install on the floor of your coop. Typically, the texture of the sand is coarse which makes chicken droppings easy to clean up with a scoop. Because the grains of sand are so light, on windy days they will blow away unless contained.
For large runs where covering the floor isn't feasible or economical, create a hardware cloth “skirt” or apron. Bury the hardware cloth a few inches around the outside perimeter of the run and extend it at least 18 inches away from the sides.
Pine Straw
Pine straw can help to prevent soil erosion by trapping water and preventing runoff. It works wonderfully as a ground cover because it is absorbent, durable and comfortable for chickens to walk on, and it also helps to keep the run clean and dry.
Make a crude field shelter – an old kitchen table with a tarpaulin over one side is easy to rig up and helps protect your hens from the rain and wind. Put a layer of sand/rubber chippings or gravel down in the run area to help with drainage.
If you scatter some treats through them as well, their excitement may also entertain you! However, chickens won't eat fallen leaves, so they aren't something to forage on directly. And in too much quantity, fallen leaves in your run can cause problems.
Raising chickens at home has increased in popularity. (
The answer is to use it as a soil amendment or fertilizer. However, raw chicken manure can burn and damage plants. It should be composted or aged prior to use.
Always let meat rest directly after cooking it.
Whether it's chicken or beef, juices will flood out of a cut of meat if sliced immediately. As Serious Eats explains, the important part here is temperature: Letting meat rest and cool down a bit allows the muscle fibers to better hold onto the juice.
Make sure your chickens have plenty of shade in their run, the Run with UV roof are the best choice because chickens do need exposure to sunlight to remain healthy and happy, the UV roof will not let them feel too hot while enjoying the sunshine.