chicken run floor

[eastend]

Hi, my chickens seem like they digging there way out of thier run!!!!!!, they are scraping all the earth away from run frame, i was thinking of some sort of buried mesh around the edge, any oher idea's??

 

[greginshasta]

Well, I think what you are seeing is the birds taking a dust bath. But the further they dig, the more likely it might become an escape route - or an entry for a predator.

Some folks dig down and place wire around the edges vertically, others lay it horizontally and attach it to the lower railing/framework of the run. It's really a matter of how hard the soil is, how much distance you have to cover, etc.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If they're doing it to dust bathe, you could try giving them a dust bath, instead. A wood frame filled with sand and fine, loose dirt works great. Then you could work on filling in the other holes and temporarily blocking them off, by putting something over the top. If they get too stubborn about digging along the fence, you could lay a narrow strip of wire fencing on the ground along the inside edge, so they can't dig right next to it. Or put a layer of gravel along the edge where you don't want them digging.