Hardware cloth on bottom of run..Okay? Not Okay?

[chilisweet]

So we are just about finished with our coop. It has an attached run. We have tried to dig and bury the hardware cloth into the ground, but it is next to impossible. Our soil is very rocky as it used to be a river bed long ago, so digging is just a massive chore.

So we were wondering, is it okay to use hardware cloth on the bottom of the run on top of the grass, attached to the outside of the run boards? Will it hurt their feet, or will they not like it? Is there another solution to keeping out predators?

Also, we are going to attached hardware cloth to the bottom of the coop and then do the deep litter method, so they wont feel the wire there. I'm hoping that is okay too?

Please help me out! We need to finish our coop by Tuesday as our chickens are arriving Wed morning.

Thank you so much!
~CAran

 

[Guitartists]

You can put it along the outside..... so it forms an L shape as it comes off of the run sides.... will help keep things from digging in without bothering the feet of your chickens.....

 

[Chirpy]

You do not want to have your chickens walking on the wire ... it's hard on their feet and thus hard on them. Plus, chickens NEED to be able to scratch around - it's in their nature and makes them happy.

What you can do is to attach the hardware cloth to the outside of the run and then lay it on the ground going out about 15 to 24 inches. The grass can grow up through it or you can put rocks or bricks on top of it. That will keep the predators from digging down beside your run.

Personally I wouldn't use it inside with the DLM either as my chickens dig all the way down to the floor. Can you just use a wood floor and the DLM?

 

[Chirpy]

Well Guitartist beat me to it and she even had a picture! She's soo good!!