HELP!! Concrete run vs. dirt run?????

[ganesha09]

We are working on our coop and run - we are new to everything chicken. The run will be 24x24- should we concrete it or leave it dirt- topped with sand? Thoughts, anyone?

 

[dsqard]

I would leave it dirt since chickens love to scratch in the dirt.

 

[ganesha09]

Thanks dsqard- I keep hearing good and bad about both- and I am so confused. I think the chickens would certainly enjoy dirt more, but I hear concrete is easier to clean and is really, really predator proof. I am really looking to hear what everyone on BYC has to say. Thank you SO much for your input, dsqard!

 

[95yj]

dirt, you can use concrete in the coop but don't do it in the run. its good for the chickens to get out into a little "nature"

 

[patandchickens]

Concrete is not great in the run -- you can use it there if you have to, by covering it with a bunch of something else, but it's best not to *have* to, you know?

It is GREAT as coop (indoor) flooring though -- cover it with enough bedding and you get the best of all possible worlds

[well, except price-wise!]


Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Spookwriter]

Chickens can't scratch and peck in the concrete.

I think mine like the dirt just fine. Wood floor in the coop, for me.

 

[wingsofglory]

Depends on your conditions.

My first one, dirt and uncovered, got so smelly that I had to have someone bring in new gravel about a foot deep to cover it and the smell. I just happened at the time to have
a friend nearby with a backhoe and gravel on his land. The new gravel sort of melted away, and needed to be replaced again later.

When I moved, I just never got a run built and let them free range all day. My German Shepherd protected them, chasing off neighbor dogs and hawks.

At the previous place, in the run they just stood at the gate all day anyway, starting at sunup, and complained with that one note that really grates the nerves, that they wanted out to free range. And most of the day, freeranging consisted of parking across from my door watching for me. Not having a run, the poop never concentrated in one place to get to smelling.

On my second coop, for ten birds, I extended the roof line to cover a "sun porch," elevated, floored, wire on 3 sides, with a regular wood floor I could clean easily. It worked well, was always dry. I put straw down and the wind would dry it and the poop and blow it away usually. In the winter, they would not step in snow, so worked well for
them to get outside in the sun and not have to step in snow.

 

[farmer_lew]

I would go with the dirt floor, so they can scratch. If you are worried about predators, you can dig a small trench, say 1 foot wide and 1 foot deep, around the perieter of the coop and run. Fill this trench with concrete, and build your walls on top of this. There are anchors you can use to attach wood posts to the concrete. Plus, you can actually set certain types of anchors (I call them J-bolts) in the concrete while it is drying, to anchor supports to.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I would go dirt topped by sand and just put a wire apron around the edge of the run to prevent predators from digging in. Instead of burying wire, you just lay it on top of the ground, attached to the run at the bottom. This goes around the outside of the run.

 

[elmo]

I don't think you can keep chickens on a bare concrete surface, long term, without having to deal with foot problems. Personally, I would never do it. Now, if you had a concrete surface already there, you could retrofit it for use by putting a more conventional bedding on top of it (sand, gravel, etc.). But it makes no sense to me to go to the expense of putting in a concrete surface that you're just going to have to put more bedding on top of to use.

A wire apron around the perimiter of the run extending outwards works very well to deter digging predators, and it has the benefit of being easy for you to install (no digging!).