Was wondering, would a blacktop base be a good idea for the chicken run? My father owns a paving business, i work for him. so i could get left over blacktop for free. I figure i can add topsoil, sand, wood shavings etc over top of the blacktop.
Plus sides are, if I put blacktop in there, i wont have to worry about them digging out or anything digging in, id cover the bottom of the fence with blacktop to basically bind the bottom of the kennel right into the blacktop. And if there is ever some kind of sickness outbreak (coccida etc..) it would be easy to disinfect it, shovel it clean and then bleach it or ammonia it.
But the downside would be, less bugs/worms in the area as they wont be able to burrow up thru the pavement. What about if i pave 2 feet all around it? Like a foot around on the inside and a foot around the outside? It would still lock the kennel fence in place but i dunno if that would be enough to keep them in and animals out? I dunno.. just a thought..
Also, would it be safe to let the chickens dig thru bunny poop? We have inside and outside rabbits, we love our bunbuns
Under the bunny hutches outside is loaded with 100s of worms and even grubs (ew) i just dont know if them scraping thru the bunny poop could lead to some kinda illness.
Plus sides are, if I put blacktop in there, i wont have to worry about them digging out or anything digging in, id cover the bottom of the fence with blacktop to basically bind the bottom of the kennel right into the blacktop. And if there is ever some kind of sickness outbreak (coccida etc..) it would be easy to disinfect it, shovel it clean and then bleach it or ammonia it.
But the downside would be, less bugs/worms in the area as they wont be able to burrow up thru the pavement. What about if i pave 2 feet all around it? Like a foot around on the inside and a foot around the outside? It would still lock the kennel fence in place but i dunno if that would be enough to keep them in and animals out? I dunno.. just a thought..
Also, would it be safe to let the chickens dig thru bunny poop? We have inside and outside rabbits, we love our bunbuns
Under the bunny hutches outside is loaded with 100s of worms and even grubs (ew) i just dont know if them scraping thru the bunny poop could lead to some kinda illness.
Paving around the run would be good. I would dig a trench, a foot or so deep, where the fencing will meet the ground and fill that with asphalt to stop any digging. However your should have a place for the chickens to dust bathe and enjoy the sunshine. I don't know where you are geographically, but as you know asphalt gets hot in the summer and the chickens won't like that.
