Hello all,
We are brand new to the whole chicken thing. We have two little chicks in a brooder right now and two more coming this week. We have started work on their outdoor lodgings which my husband (a carpenter) wants to make as bullet proof as possible. Right now our sketches look a lot like this:
click for picture but with a bigger floor plan.
This past weekend my husband framed out a floor, covered the bottom with chicken wire, placed on the ground wire side down, then filled gravel in between the joists. He then put a wood floor on top of it. This is going to be the base for the entire enclosure.
After doing a lot of reading I'm wondering if this wood floor is a bad idea. We live in the Pacific Northwest where we get a lot of rain. Whatever material we use on the floor is gong to get wet, even with a roof. What do you all suggest? Should we rip out the floor and remove the joists and use bark chips or sand? Or is there something else we can use? The floor was supposed to keep out predators but I'm wondering if the chicken wire and gravel is enough of a deterrent.
Thanks all!
We are brand new to the whole chicken thing. We have two little chicks in a brooder right now and two more coming this week. We have started work on their outdoor lodgings which my husband (a carpenter) wants to make as bullet proof as possible. Right now our sketches look a lot like this:
click for picture but with a bigger floor plan.
This past weekend my husband framed out a floor, covered the bottom with chicken wire, placed on the ground wire side down, then filled gravel in between the joists. He then put a wood floor on top of it. This is going to be the base for the entire enclosure.
After doing a lot of reading I'm wondering if this wood floor is a bad idea. We live in the Pacific Northwest where we get a lot of rain. Whatever material we use on the floor is gong to get wet, even with a roof. What do you all suggest? Should we rip out the floor and remove the joists and use bark chips or sand? Or is there something else we can use? The floor was supposed to keep out predators but I'm wondering if the chicken wire and gravel is enough of a deterrent.
Thanks all!
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