best substrate for chooks?

[snakeshack]

I am interested in knowing what you all use as substrate in your chicken run.
Ideally I want something which will compost readily,and can be layed fairly deep (8 ins or so) .
A friend has suggested a hemp based horse bedding ,and I know that many people use wood shavings,so I just wanted everyone elses opinions and advice.

[Hans Mum]

hempcore for me, it smells lovely and composts really well

[vicky]

I prefer a hemp or chopped straw product (whichever is cheapest) to shavings as they are quicker to rot. They do smell lovely too! I use them in the run, in the coop and in the nestboxes - I think shavings are a bit coarse for nestboxes.

[MaureenHall]

Hemcore for the nest boxes, straw in the run, and if that gets too soggy after a really heavy downpour, Hemcore on top as well

[di]

We used straw last year in the winter but found it messy,it got trod into the mud making it hard to cleanout,so this year I think we're going to try & get a few pallets down & cover these with straw.Especially as it will be our first winter with a feathered footed one(which we are still hoping with all our hearts is a little girl).
In the summer I just leave the ground bare as it makes for easier daily sweeping.

[shirlthegirl43]

I have been keeping mine on bare soil so far. They have a sheltered area with paving slabs for rainy days. Now that we have more though, I am considering options for this winter. Have just been checking on Hemcore and there are no suppliers in my area, where do you all buy it from and how much does it cost?

[Bramble-Poultry]

Hemcore here too - it composts a lot quicker than shavings, doesn't smell as much either inbetween clean outs, added to that its actually cheaper than shavings its perfect. We straw the runs themselves but if you get really soggy there are loads of options from paving the run to putting pallets in to lift the chooks off the floor.

Don;t know where your nearest Countrywide Farmers is Shirl but thats where I get mine from!

[Suechooks]

Hemcore here too

Don;t know where your nearest Countrywide Farmers is Shirl but thats where I get mine from!

My Countrywide Farmers doesn't stock it! I tried to find Wynnstay place near Morda yesterday as they do have it but the Industrial estate was so big I had no chance! Did you go yesterday Jennie? Needed you to help me decide about some Cream legbars - came away without!

[shirlthegirl43]

Not got a Countrywide Farmers anywhere nearby.

[Bramble-Poultry]

Aww Sue sorry didn't go hun - Charlotte had a birthday party and we were'nt sure we could do both in time.

Cream legbars - have some of mine when they hatch next week

[Bramble-Poultry]

Shirl there are other similar products Hemcore isn't the only one - find a equestrian supplire near to you because it is technically horse bedding.

Oh yeah Wynstayy stock it too

[bluemoon]

There's Aubious, which is Hemcore, but made in France, which our horsey place stocks instead. We did use it until the last bale we bought, and then swapped to one called 'Bliss'. It's still horse bedding, but looks more like straw, it goes further, largely because each bale is very well packed, so works out cheaper although the initial cost is the same. And it's made in Derbyshire, which is nearby and so saves on the road miles.

[Snadger]

Bare soil with pallets to sit on when wet on the uncovered section and straw in the covered section!

[Sue]

Hi
I changed to Megazorb another paperbased horse bedding. I've worked my way through just straw, straw and woodshavings, aubiose and have found Megazorb to be the best. It keeps well, seems to compost with no problems and dries out poo.

I did have trouble with the aubiose last year when the edges of the run got wet, their talons (is that the right word??) got caked with the stuff where they'd been digging and I had to keep picking it off before it dried in solid lumps.


Sue

[Hilary B]

Straw + Mud = textured mud. If it is muddy, use pallets or pave it (if you want to you can add straw on top of that).
In non-muddy places, it really depends on concentration of chooks. If they have plenty of space, they just don't need anything (but you have to remove the poo before it gets messy).