Built a deck floor run.

Hello everyone. I recently built a 6 by 12 run with a raised chicken coop just above it which is 4 X 6. Being that I live out in the country in Florida and have such a problem with predators I built the Run floor out of pressure treated deck boards to keep the predators from digging in from underneath and keep it clean for the birds. I have an abundant supply of free pine needles so I covered the run with those. I also put those in the nesting boxes and the floor of the coop being that they won't mold and will be easy to clean out when the time comes. I'm just looking for suggestions or thoughts on my setup. I originally was going to pour a concrete form for the run but it was just as easy and I had the tools to build that deck floor so I went that direction. Tell me what you think. Thanks

Hey there Rolfe … it looks good!

First up, living in Aus, I am not an expert when it comes to your predator types and your climate but, thought that if I shared why it may not work for me, you can go “Yep, not a problem here” or “hhhhm, hadn’t thought of that”

I have a raised coop and because of our climate, the girls only use it for sleeping and laying their eggs, the rest of the time is spent in the run or on their daily supervised free range.

For this reason, the coop floor is removable, bare, slatted timber off which I clean the overnight poops every morning and take out each weekend and thoroughly wash and dry in the sun. I use deep litter in the run.

Looking at the picture with your chickens on the timber, is there a slight gap between the timbers? Here, having a slight gap between the timbers on the floor would be a wonderful place for mites to camp out/breed etc.

Is the floor raised with air under? Rodents could tunnel in under, maybe giving them a good spot to breed, cause all sorts of issues? We have a slightly raised timber deck on top of concrete under our gazebo and the cane toads camp out under it during the heat of the day

Hosing down the floor when it needed a good clean might result in water going through, causing the ground underneath, which does not see sun, to become damp and a perfect breeding ground for bacteria? Also, the gap may build up over time with small bits of food, poop etc which you will not be able to get to to clean out?

Do they free range at all? If not, while I note you mention pine needles, they may miss out on the enjoyment of digging in the dirt and getting the much needed grit for digestion?

I have bantams and they would not like the roosts so low to the coop floor and would probably be trying to balance on the nest box dividers because they are higher. For my gals, definitely would raise them.

As I said, they are a couple of things I thought of for here … it is a great build and puts mine to shame