Gravel for a run?

[Namaste Mama]

I have an area of my yard where I am thinking of putting my hen house that is gravel with a nice shady ficus tree. Would there be any problems with cleaning etc. having a gravel run?

 

[Namaste Mama]

Do I have cooties?

Dose anyone know about gravel in runs?

 

[setter4]

Quote:
I don't know if you have cooties, but if you do then someone can tell you what to put on yurself to get rid of them....about gravel runs...My chicken run is gravel and it has worked out just fine. They dig down thru the gravel sometimes and I just rake it back over. They probably eat some of the small stuff for grit and it drains well when it's wet. I have no complaints at all and haven't heard any from the hens either.

 

[Namaste Mama]

I'll probably need some DE for the cooties huh? Thanks for the insight on the gravel. How do you clean the poo out of the gravel? Do you just hose it off?

 

[setter4]

The rain seems to take care of most of it. I also throw some Stall-Dry around in there and it helps keeps it dry and non-smelly. (lol)
I sometimes throw 1/4 of a bale of straw in there and let the girls root around thru it. They love that.. lol If you have dirt or sand under the gravel they will soon have dug down to that and have it all mixed together. they are AMAZING diggers.
Make sure you make a place with some sand or something so they can dust bath.

 

[FrChuckW]

If you want to put gravel in the run don't use the colored type, use a natural colored gravel, only because the colored type can get really ugly after awhile, and there is always the possibility of the coating coming off and the chickens eating it by mistake.

I am going to build a new run and coop this spring and plan on having the coop raised off the ground. However to insure proper drainage I will dig down at least 18 -24 inches, and line the hole first with 1/4" hardware clothe over which I will put a 6 inch layer of gravel, then some garden fabric ( to keep the dirt from clogging the gravel up, then a 6 inch layer of sand,covered by garden fabric and hardware cloth, then more gravel and sand. As the sides of the run will also have a 12" board running around the base of it inside the run area, I will be able to mix the top layer of sand, dirt, straw and gravel.