Rocks for flooring? Help/advice

[Jglauser]

Hey guys and gals! I'm still in the process of building my coop; but, I'm concerned about where it is going to be. The ground is full of rocks as you can see from the pictures. It's pretty deep with rocks (I tried to dig to get until I got dirt, but it took a while). Anyone have any experience with this? I would assume this isn't good for chickens. I had another thought of throwing dirt all over on top of it so they could peck/dig through something. I don't know. I'm new at this. This is the only place that the coop can be/fits. Thank you so much in advance for your suggestions.
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[Leigti]

My house is built on an old riverbed, it is nothing but rock with a tiny bit of dirt. I can't dig it with a shovel, I literally have to use a pick ax. I am in the process of building a new chicken coop and there's no way to avoid the rocks in the run. I'm trying to remove the biggest ones but otherwise I'm going to try the deep litter method in the run itself.

 

[GingerGypsy]

Since you have a gravel base, I'd go with sand instead of dirt. It's much cleaner and a lot safer than the rocks.

 

[aart]

I'd get rid of the gravel, just scrape / shovel as much as you can out of the run area right below the coop,
and replace it with ramial wood chips and other organic matter to help with the decomposition of poops.

Sand might work if you plan on sifting out the poops every day and it is very dry where you are.

 

[Jglauser]

I'd get rid of the gravel, just scrape / shovel as much as you can out of the run area right below the coop,
and replace it with ramial wood chips and other organic matter to help with the decomposition of poops.

Sand might work if you plan on sifting out the poops every day and it is very dry where you are.

Thanks for the reply. That's a good idea. It can get super dry here in the summer. But, in the winter it also gets pretty wet with some crazy storms. It's actually snowing a lot right now. We kind of have both crazy extremes here in Utah. I'll start digging and look into getting some wood chips or other organic material.

Thanks again.

 

[aart]

Quote: Look closely at any drainage routes from rain or snowmelt runoff, you want to steer them away from under the coop if at all possible.
Wet makes for stink, big time.

 

[scooter147]

You definitely need to try and get rid of as much rock as possible and replace with some type of organic material.

I see bumble foot as a big issue with hens on rock all day not to mention is that it is probably very comfortable.