so we dug out the hill and have the area leveled out for the run and the bottom frame put togehter (more for sizing purposes right now)
we live on a big sand hill, so currently the "floor" of the run is a mixture of low quality dirt and LOTS of sand (theres only about 4" of the low qulaity dirt mixed with sand before you hit PURE sand lol.
we also have alot of grubs, we dont chemically treat (we have small dogs) and theres plenty of the little buggers under the run area that we KNOW the chooks are going to have a blast removing for us
were trying to keep costs low but keep the coop secure and had some basic ideas...
#1: run chicken wire under the entire run then dump a couple bags of contractor sand ontop.
the pro of this is nothings going to be able to dig in easily from underneath and the sand will help keep everything from getting muddy (with what little dirt is actually mixed with the existing sand
cons of this is while they can still scratch in the sand they wont have acess to the dirt below where the grubs are...im sure the grubs would slowly migrate towards the surface, but still
#2: run a wire apron around the run and rake a big bag of DE across the dirt
drainage isnt bad back there, infact ive never seen a puddle lol...
the pros: the benefits of de, they have acess to the grubs and sand thats alreayd in the dirt
the cons potential to be muddy after rain/snow...
my other question with option #2 would be how often would we need to add DE to the run to keep the benefits, and will it still be usefull if it gets washed down into the sand/dirt we have too quick to be of benefit?
now for pt 2:
what do you do to supply with DE not in the run, do you offer the DE for consumption? a dust bath ect...
i knwo the benefits of DE but not so much on the "how do you give it to them" part.
i know that its great as an addition to a dust bath in the feathers, but do you offer it with feed too for the internal benefits?
we live on a big sand hill, so currently the "floor" of the run is a mixture of low quality dirt and LOTS of sand (theres only about 4" of the low qulaity dirt mixed with sand before you hit PURE sand lol.
we also have alot of grubs, we dont chemically treat (we have small dogs) and theres plenty of the little buggers under the run area that we KNOW the chooks are going to have a blast removing for us
were trying to keep costs low but keep the coop secure and had some basic ideas...
#1: run chicken wire under the entire run then dump a couple bags of contractor sand ontop.
the pro of this is nothings going to be able to dig in easily from underneath and the sand will help keep everything from getting muddy (with what little dirt is actually mixed with the existing sand
cons of this is while they can still scratch in the sand they wont have acess to the dirt below where the grubs are...im sure the grubs would slowly migrate towards the surface, but still
#2: run a wire apron around the run and rake a big bag of DE across the dirt
drainage isnt bad back there, infact ive never seen a puddle lol...
the pros: the benefits of de, they have acess to the grubs and sand thats alreayd in the dirt
the cons potential to be muddy after rain/snow...
my other question with option #2 would be how often would we need to add DE to the run to keep the benefits, and will it still be usefull if it gets washed down into the sand/dirt we have too quick to be of benefit?
now for pt 2:
what do you do to supply with DE not in the run, do you offer the DE for consumption? a dust bath ect...
i knwo the benefits of DE but not so much on the "how do you give it to them" part.
i know that its great as an addition to a dust bath in the feathers, but do you offer it with feed too for the internal benefits?
