First Coop!

[moscoops]

Hello! My husband and I are in the middle of converting our garden shed into a coop for our very first backyard flock. The inside portion we have pretty much down, but the outside run is where we need a little advice.

We bought this house about 3 months ago and the previous owners had dumped driveway stones (the common gray and blue looking ones) where we want to put the chicken run. The grass has started to take back the area, but not completely.

Do we try to dig out the rocks with the tractor, put dirt on top of it (and if so, what kind of dirt/fill), or leave it as it is?

 

[Eggsoteric]

If it were me, I would probably leave as is. The chickens will surely end up making short work of any grass that's left in the area anyway. I've not yet given it a go, however, some folks swear by sand in the run.

 

[SpoilMyPooch]

Sounds like a great project!

There are a whole variety of surfaces that people have in their chicken runs. Every surface has its pros and cons. Most people have dirt (which was originally grass! but as Eggsoteric has mentioned, some people use sand. Sand though seems to be highly contentious. Some people swear by it, others think that is very unsuitable. Some people have rubber pellets and other people have bark. You could just go with the stones. The chickens can scratch around in it and it will provide excellent drainage. Depending on the size of the area, if the chickens really don't like it, you can perhaps resurface it. Keep us updated.

I have created a highly detailed infographic and a lengthy article about important factors to bear in mind when building chicken coops and runs but I didn't tackle the issue of the surface of the chicken run. Oops! You can access it from the link below.

http://www.allaboutchickens.info/better-chicken-coop-run/

I will let you be the judge!

 

[NewChickener784]

Sounds like a great project!

There are a whole variety of surfaces that people have in their chicken runs. Every surface has its pros and cons. Most people have dirt (which was originally grass! but as Eggsoteric has mentioned, some people use sand. Sand though seems to be highly contentious. Some people swear by it, others think that is very unsuitable. Some people have rubber pellets and other people have bark. You could just go with the stones. The chickens can scratch around in it and it will provide excellent drainage. Depending on the size of the area, if the chickens really don't like it, you can perhaps resurface it. Keep us updated.

I have created a highly detailed infographic and a lengthy article about important factors to bear in mind when building chicken coops and runs but I didn't tackle the issue of the surface of the chicken run. Oops! You can access it from the link below.

http://www.allaboutchickens.info/better-chicken-coop-run/

I will let you be the judge!

Question about the stones/gravel. Part of my run doesn't drain all that well. would rock/gravel be a good idea to use for this area?

 

[moscoops]

Thank you both for the advice! It's good to hear that I can try to leave it be, that would make it so so much easier! I will go out get some pics tomorrow so I can make sure I'm doing everything correctly.

 

[aart]

Deep layer of organic material, after all possible is done to divert rain/snowmelt/runoff water from gathering too deeply in run area.

Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992