Chicken run, flooring/ground

[hagarwon]

I have 25 new peeps that will be ready to move outside pretty soon. I am getting the run ready at this point. The run is 20' x 20'. I have two questions. First, do I need wire on the ground? The chickens will not be out at night.
My second question is, what should I have on the ground? Currently it is just dirt. Should I put shavings down?, try to get some grass planted? add sand?
All advice would be appreciated.

 

[Dawn419]

Hi and Welcome to BYC!

No, you don't need any wire on the ground inside of the run but you could lay some on the ground around the outside perimeter of the run to prevent any digging predators from getting in.

We ran a 3' wide "skirt" of 1" chicken wire around our main to keep diggers at bay (wire is held in place with garden stakes/staples and homemade stakes made from wire coat hangers)...

Plain ole' dirt is just fine for the run. If the drainage is bad, you can add some sand (we've been thinking about doing so but have't decided yet...red clay here).

As far as sowing grass seed, unless the run is divided into 2 areas, the chickens will have it dug up in no time flat. Our run is clay so I just go around every few days and pick "yard salad" for our gang: chickweed, henbit, dandelion leaves, wild violet leaves and flowers.

Hope this helps!

Dawn

 

[hagarwon]

Dawn,
That is an excellent idea. I will do the same with mine. Thank you!

 

[Dawn419]

You are so welcome! Glad I could help!

Dawn

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
This is such a great idea!!! My dad keeps telling me to make sure that I put chicken wire down in the run, but I don't think that would be nice for the chickens. They wouldn't be able to scratch. This idea is perfect! You are so clever Dawn!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

If lawn care around the wire is an issue you can also bury it.

 

[Dawn419]

Quote:
I love the idea of burying the wire but the red clay here in TN refuses to cooperate...it's either too dry and like concrete or too wet and sticks like glue to everything you don't want it to stick to.

I'll probably just use our swing blade to keep the greenery down over the wire, although we can get the mower over it. I like the blade because it's quiet and good exercise!

I'm using large pots for container gardening along the south-side of the run, so I just put down some old, heavy-duty plastic to set the pots on and to keep the weeds at bay.


Dawn