Dirt in the Coop?

[eeiko321]

Quote:
hi
well i was always curious about full concrete floors.
since im buying a medium sized coop next week. im decidng on what type of floor.

my first option is grass...since my backyard is 3/4 grass. and for some reason the 2 hens i have...LOVE pecking and eating the grass. so what do u do to your chickens since you have no grass..and grass apparently should be on thier diet?

 

[Omran]

Quote:
hi
well i was always curious about full concrete floors.
since im buying a medium sized coop next week. im decidng on what type of floor.

my first option is grass...since my backyard is 3/4 grass. and for some reason the 2 hens i have...LOVE pecking and eating the grass. so what do u do to your chickens since you have no grass..and grass apparently should be on thier diet?

Hello,I also have a pen for my chickens about 40'x12' and in addition I let them free range every day ( under supervision) for about 1.5 hours,because where I live there arealot of foxes.But the concrete floor is very important ,because it eliminate any other animals to dig undernieth the coop and I can water wash it once and a while.

 

[eeiko321]

oh ic ic
well in australia there isnt many predators...
and in my street there isnt any dogs.

so what happens after 1.5 hours after free ranging?.....what do u do?
do u catch them all and shove them back in?

 

[cmom]

Quote:
My birds don't particularly care to be out in the rain. I covered their run so now it is fairly dry even when it rains. They can go out and get on their ladder. They love that. I'll see if I can find a picture and post it.

 

[cmom]

I found an older picture. We usually have a fenced in free range area. We move the coop periodacally. We had taken the fence down and was getting ready to move it when this was taken. In the picture is their ladder and their first sandbox.

 

[Mrs. Chicken]

My chicks/roosters love the rain. If its drizzly they wonder around. But if it pours they gone into their coop and watch until it eases. It is so funny. Their floor is dirt and they burrow big holes, I just scoop the dirt back in.

 

[eeiko321]

Quote:
very nice coop

do u let them out of the complex?

or u can just keep them in there?

 

[cmom]

I usually have a fenced in free range area for them. Here are some older pictures. I use wire now, but these are when I was using netting. I move the coop, run and range area about every 3 months.

 

[eeiko321]

Quote:
thats nice but the only thing that concerns me in free range areas is cleaning up the crap...

how do u manage to clean up the crap from the chickens in the free range area and the coop???

 

[cmom]

I don't clean it up the poop in the run or their range area. We usually get so much rain especially in the summer. I only clean up the poop under the coop when we move it. I do sprinkle DE. I have a shaker bottle for the DE with a lid. I sprinkle it over the poop pit under the roosts, all around in the coop including their nest boxes, and their favorite dust bath holes. I sprinkle once a week just lightly. Also I sprinkle in their run ocassionally. I use FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth (DE) I put some scratch in the part of the coop that has a floor. They scratch and do a good job mixing it up in the pine shavings. I clean my coop once a year. I have no problems with flies, stink and such. My pine shavings stay nice and dry easy to clean out.