Do I need to cover the run ground immidiately??

[Gabtods]

Okay so we’re so close to finishing the coop and run! This build is no joke! But I attribute that the tree trouble makers that “helped” in every step.
okay, my question... once we actually put the chicks in this week, do we need to put something on the ground of the chicken run right away? Or wait a bit? There is grass under there ( it just got covered in dirt from our 3 helpers during the build), but not sure if we should cover it right away with pelets/wood chips?
It’s not really big enough for deep litter, so is the alternative to just spot clean the run? The coop itself will be pine shaving and will be cleaned out and replaced ever day or 2 ... but not sure what to do with the run!
thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Cochin4000]

It’s not necessary to cover the ground right away or at all. Your coop, where the chickens sleep, seems to be covered and secure already. The run doesn’t have to covered because the main predators that dig are nocturnal and your chickens will already be in the secure housing part of the coop at night.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You can leave it as grass until the chickens decimate it, at that point yes you'll need some form of litter.

 

[Chiker]

hello... i had grass in my run but this was shortly demolished and has never regrown so if you are moving the run around then u dont need to worry but if it is fixed then the grass will die and if you have hens with fluffy feet it is a good idea to put bark chips down because the chickens feet can get clogged up in mud and then they start to peck the feathers out and then it turns nasty

 

[333113]

If the run is dry and stays pretty dry, you don't necessarily have to put anything on the ground. I have two dry runs that are filled with dust pits the chickens dug for dust bathing.

 

[Gabtods]

It’s not necessary to cover the ground right away or at all. Your coop, where the chickens sleep, seems to be covered and secure already. The run doesn’t have to covered because the main predators that dig are nocturnal and your chickens will already be in the secure housing part of the coop at night.

During the day I worry about our cat and our neighbors at... they’re avid bird hunters, and I would hate for them to be attacked by our own cat haha

 

[aart]

do we need to put something on the ground of the chicken run right away?

It looks like there no grass there, just dirt?
If so, yes, put some bedding down.

 

[EmilyRobb]

@Gabtods Chickens will literally decimate and destroy any grass in their run within less than a week. I had grass in a run of mine and one of my smaller flocks of 6 took care of it quickly. I've since let the ground remain bare, with the addition of some sand/gravel mixed into the loamy dirt for drainage purposes. There's no need to cover the outside portion of a chicken enclosure. Sometimes just the dirt is nice because the chickens will have dust baths when and where they please. Once the grass breaks through the dirt, chickens will eat it up. Otherwise, I think that the setup is fine and not much more would need to be changed