former octagonal gravel "pool area" used in coop design?

[ninemileneighbor]

Hi all, last year I had plans to put in a coop at my current property but things have changed and I just bought a house.

The property has an octagonal area that's gravel covered and bordered with 4x4's around it's perimiter on the back lawn (surrounded by grass) that the previous owners used for their above ground pool. The area is about 15' in diameter. Well, I have no interest in wasting water or money on a pool, so i'd like to know the feasability of using this area in the design of a coop.

Would this area be good for anything? Should I rake up the gravel?

What would you do with it if you had it?

 

[GallowayFarms]

How tall are the 4x4's?

Sounds like the perfect start to a chicken run. If you built the coop on the side of the circle and use the posts to put your fencing on.

Use the gravel base for drainage. I like to use pine straw over my gravel for a my chickens to run around on.

How big is your yard? Were you going to keep them in a fence the whole time?

 

[tvtaber]

Personally, I would fence around it and use it! What else are you going to do with such an odd landscape feature?

How deep is the gravel? Chickens like dirt, but they'll dig around anyhting and find what they want (bugs, little rocks). I would try to mix the gravel into the soil, and the chickens will continue mixing it after that. I have a garden area the previous owners covered in big rough gravel and it is such a pain. I wish people would use natural mulches!

 

[ninemileneighbor]

The 4x4's are laid around the octagon as a border to keep the gravel in. They're maybe an inch above the gravel. The gravel itself is about two inches deep, nothing extreme.

The yard is large enough that they can free range as we are in the country.