Chicken coop floor

[TAMFAM]

Hello! I would like some advice on the floor in my 8‘ x 8‘chicken coop that I’m going to build inside my shed. The current floor of the shed is crushed gravel. I want to do the deep litter method on the ground. My concern is if the crushed gravel would be too dusty for the chickens to inhale. I want to put hardware cloth on the ground to keep rodents out. Would you put hardware cloth on top of the crushed gravel and then add straw, wood chips, or leaves? Or should I remove the crushed gravel down to dirt and then add the hardware cloth? any suggestions would be appreciate it. Thank you so much. This is all new to me.

 

[Sally PB]

Or should I remove the crushed gravel down to dirt

Yes, remove the gravel. It can be very hard on the chickens' feet. Leave the dirt, put on the bedding material; pine shavings are common and cheap to buy.

To keep out the rodents, install an "apron" around the coop and run, on the ground. Search for "predator proof apron" and you find lots of examples. Briefly, it's hardware cloth on the ground. It should be 18 inches wide at least; 2 feet would be better. The critters try to dig in, hit the hardware cloth, and give up because they can't dig through it.

A hard substrate like pavers isn't the same. Critters just back up until they get to the dirt.

Another option is to run the hardware cloth vertically, but that involves a LOT of digging, as the apron needs to be 18-24 inches deep. Most people do the horizontal method instead.

 

[aart]

Yes, remove the gravel. It can be very hard on the chickens' feet.

It will also become compacted with poops and reek.

Here's a couple of good examples of anti-dig apron installation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208