Dusty Run- Advice?

[Chold05]

Good morning!

I'm wondering if anyone has advise on how to make my run less dusty?

The run is 10ft by 12ft and we have 6 hens. It's totally open on 3 sides. In the winter, we cut custom plexi glass panels that only goes 3/4 the way to the ceiling and we leave two panels totally open for more ventilation.

We use wood chips on the floor, but it's SO dusty.

Any tricks for cutting down the dust? Maybe the answer is as simple as spray it with a little water- but figured I'd see if anyone had any other suggestions.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I wouldn't spray it with water. There is nothing stinkier than wet chicken poop
I use wood chips as well and haven't had a problem with dust-maybe because the weather hasnt been very dry but maybe because I throw a little dirty bedding in there to break down when I clean the coop. The straw and hay and old wood shavings make my run into a sort of compost pile. I think that's most chicken runs. It will stink mightily when I turn in over but wood chips have been a game-changer for me. Our "dirt" is more like clay though. What is your substrate like? I'm assuming its very dry and that's the problem in which case it will get better with time and old poop lol

 

[DobieLover]

Good morning!

I'm wondering if anyone has advise on how to make my run less dusty?

The run is 10ft by 12ft and we have 6 hens. It's totally open on 3 sides. In the winter, we cut custom plexi glass panels that only goes 3/4 the way to the ceiling and we leave two panels totally open for more ventilation.

We use wood chips on the floor, but it's SO dusty.

Any tricks for cutting down the dust? Maybe the answer is as simple as spray it with a little water- but figured I'd see if anyone had any other suggestions.

View attachment 3035895

I drizzle the old water from the chickens water fount around when I dump it. You could mist it with water from a garden pressure sprayer, rake and mist again but the wind will dry out out pretty quickly.
That much water won't cause it to stink and will help accelerate decomposition.

 

[Kiki]

I hate shavings because of the dust.

Any reason you don't want to use dirt, sticks, leaves...deep litter method without shavings?

 

[Kiki]

What's spread around/outside your coop looks like shavings to me but The picture is not clear so I can't tell.

Can you get clear closer picture of both inside and out?

 

[bajabirdbrain]

We chose to have sand in both the coop and run. This is very easy to pick up the poop with a little slotted shovel. In the coop, poop boards under the roosting "rails" takes literally 2 minutes to scrape the poop into a 2lb coffee can. We can't imagine using wood chips as they seem difficult to clean and must be replaced. We just add a bit more sand a couple of times per year. Really couldn't be easier, IMO. We, too, add plastic shower curtains on 2 sides of the run in the winter to keep out blowing rain and snow. Again, works extremely well.

 

[Chold05]

I hate shavings because of the dust.

Any reason you don't want to use dirt, sticks, leaves...deep litter method without shavings?

I did add some leaves the past fall. I don’t love the idea of deep litter in the run… maybe I need to research up it more but it seems so… messy?

 

[Chold05]

We chose to have sand in both the coop and run. This is very easy to pick up the poop with a little slotted shovel. In the coop, poop boards under the roosting "rails" takes literally 2 minutes to scrape the poop into a 2lb coffee can. We can't imagine using wood chips as they seem difficult to clean and must be replaced. We just add a bit more sand a couple of times per year. Really couldn't be easier, IMO. We, too, add plastic shower curtains on 2 sides of the run in the winter to keep out blowing rain and snow. Again, works extremely well.

Love the idea of sand. Seems like it would be better for their feet! Any type of sand in particular you recommend?

 

[Chold05]

What's spread around/outside your coop looks like shavings to me but The picture is not clear so I can't tell.

Can you get clear closer picture of both inside and out?

The outside has straw (we had just planted grass there!)

Here is the inside of the run.

 

[Chold05]

The outside has straw (we had just planted grass there!)

Here is the inside of the run.