Digging holes around the EDGE of the run/under coop??

[Mommysongbird]

Our chickens are digging holes (I know that they are probably just for dust baths), but they are at the VERY EDGES of the run under the coop. Should I just leave them or fill them in??

Our edges have landscape timbers around the whole perimiter, but I don't think the wire got put down in the ground the way I wanted, you know like 4" deapth past the timbers. I trusted this to my hubby and 2 other 'men' so it was probably NOT done as specified.

The chickens have plenty of holes in the middle the run under the coop, so why are they digging these??

 

[gryeyes]

Because.

It's just what they do.

I no longer have a run, as my flock ranges freely. When they were in a run, they did that. My neighbor's chickens are doing it to their pen. We laugh and say it's their sneaky way to escape the run. "Oh, we chickens are just dust bathing here, nothing to see... Move along! All is well!"

My flock is now digging dust bathing holes along the sunny side of the house foundation. Some year from now, my house may tilt over and fall into the crevasse they will have dug...... unless I fill it in, eventually.

 

[Mommysongbird]

Okay, I needed that laugh, but it is NOT what I wanted to hear!

If my girls get out, they will be killed so quickly that is why we don't free range. We are right beside a road, with railroad tracks up on the hill side and dogs and cats in the yard. I don't worry about what might be over head, but I am sure we have enough hawks to take care of our little flock really quickly.

 

[This_chicks_place]

I put a big rock in the hole when they dig close to the edges. Thry also like to climb on them

 

[Americana]

I've had that problem before, You can get large limbs or logs to go on the edges after you cover the holes

You just want to make sure no predators can get in, so you might want to attach and bury some wire too.

 

[Mommysongbird]

Quote:
Can't exactly get under the coop, with the mean ole rooster in there, but as soon as he is gone, we will be able to hopefully go back to 'normal' days. I will see if I can put something on the outside or the run. We have some more landscape timbers that can go around the perimeter, so maybe that will help until we can actually get in there and put some large rocks in.

Thanks

 

[Mommysongbird]

Quote:
We only have about 1 foot of clearance room under the coop (our birds aren't that big) so it would have to be our son to get under there, but right now we can't get under it until this stupid roo (well both of them) are gone.

Do you mean like drift wood? Or just whatever?

Predators is what I will be worried about now, but they still can't get into the actual coop, unless they know how to unlock the door.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Mine look like they are digging out...but they really couldn't do it. They tend to fill in their own holes when they dig in a new area and kick all the dirt out and over.

 

[Mommysongbird]

Quote:
By the way, What kind of chicken is that in your profile pic?? My son saw it and thought it was HIS Flicka. I told him that was not one of our girls. He also say some of you others on you page and the brown EE? he thought she was our Buffy Girl.

 

[oceanwidedesigns]

You're going to need some sort of barrier... filling it in wont be packed enough, they'll just keep bathing there.

You can find thick wire/metal "garden fences" at Home Depot & Lowes for about $10 for 10ft. All you have to do is shove the bottom into the ground, the space is small enough between the bottom spikes that they wont be able to push/fit through if they dig under the run. They're easily moveable, a cheap & easier alternative to burying wire.

In this picture you can barely see the bottom half of ours, it's just beyond the plant pot in the top left corner (not the garden mesh that makes up our run.) I have it just to give me a barrier to walk around the run while keeping our dog away. She loves the ladies, but she gets in my way when I'm working.


Baby & Patty by Ocean Wide Designs, on Flickr