Covered Run - What Flooring to Use?

[ajay5]

I know there's a million and one threads about this, but I can't seem to find one that answers exactly what I'm wondering. So please forgive me if these are stupid questions...

We have a small covered run that is currently sitting on top of long grass. The chickens have been in it for about 2 weeks now and have trampled the grass, and it's becoming messy (read: poopy) and obviously grass is not cleanable! We are in a subdivision, which isn't that thrilled about us having the chickens to begin with, so cleanliness is next to godliness for us! We want it to be as "attractive" as possible.

So, what bedding should we be using in the run for maximum ease of cleaning and that will make the chickens happy? I was previously planning on putting down some pea gravel, and then a few inches of sand on top and treating it almost like a litter box as far as raking and scooping every few days. Is this a good plan?

I've also read about straw, pine shavings, etc. Would those be better ideas? When you go to clean those, do you just scoop them all out to bare ground and put down new?

Any better options I'm missing?

Thanks SO much for any advice you can give!!

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

I am a huge fan of sand. It will eliminate all stink, dry up poop and is very easy to clean and maintain. I have used hays and straws before and just don't care for them. Messy, stays wet, chickens eat dirty hay, and what do you do with it all! You wouldn't need much sand in there. As for the pea gravel, unless you use 6 inches of sand, the chickens will dig it up. So you might want to go with sand only. However the gravel would aid with less water retention.

Just my humble thoughts. LOL I am a sand addict and use it in all chicken runs, coops, nest boxes, quail aviaries and even the cages of my parrots!

 

[ajay5]

Welcome to BYC!

I am a huge fan of sand. It will eliminate all stink, dry up poop and is very easy to clean and maintain. I have used hays and straws before and just don't care for them. Messy, stays wet, chickens eat dirty hay, and what do you do with it all! You wouldn't need much sand in there. As for the pea gravel, unless you use 6 inches of sand, the chickens will dig it up. So you might want to go with sand only. However the gravel would aid with less water retention.

Just my humble thoughts. LOL I am a sand addict and use it in all chicken runs, coops, nest boxes, quail aviaries and even the cages of my parrots!

Thank you!! I was going to do the gravel because I had read that the sand will eventually wash away. Maybe that's not as much of a problem since the coop is covered?

 

[TwoCrows]

You might need to put up something along the bottom, maybe some 2x4's or something to contain the sand. It may wash away anyway right out the sides of the run.