just became a first time chicken owner. have some questions

[annaliese90042]

hi there, this is my first post on this forum. thanks for creating such a great resource.

for starters: i live in northeast los angeles in a rental and i acquired two pullets (one silkie and one light brahma) from chickens galore a few days ago.

we had only intended to go ~browse~ the hatchery but we fell in love/got excited and left with two new friends. we stopped at a nearby tractor supply and bought a small simple coop that is similar to a rabbit hutch.

the plan was/is to put this coop on the side of our house in a fenced in, somewhat secure area that is intended to be a dog run (my dogs ignore this area in favor of our front yard). the ground in this area is covered in rocks and gravel but we planned to shovel the rocks away so that the chickens could free range here and walk on dirt/weeds/sparse grass. unfortunately, once we started to shovel the gravel we realized that there is some kind of a heavy duty cloth of some kind under the gravel/above the dirt. i am not sure what it is but it's everywhere and it seems that the plan to have the chickens on dirt in this area is not going to happen.

does anyone have any thoughts on this situation? is it okay to have the chickens walking around on this gravel? what would you, much more experienced people, do?

currently, the chickens are living in their coop in my laundry room while we decide what to do. we have been taking them into the front yard for supervised sunshine and digging time.

we would also like to build some kind of extension or larger, secure enclosure for the chickens and their coop. racoons and stray cats are a concern in our area. any insight is greatly appreciated. these chickens are intended as pets but we probably do not want to keep them in our laundry room much longer!

 

[Judy]

The rock should be OK; people use a wide, wide variety of materials. You might find it gets nasty because of the cloth, but time will tell, stray bits of poop may just wash through. It sounds like you will have two spoiled chickens; good for you! Enjoy. And welcome to our community!

 

[21hens-incharge]

It is probably landscape fabric designed to keep the weeds out.
It will probably be difficult to remove. I would still remove what I could.

How big are the pieces of gravel? If they are larger than pea gravel I think it could hurt.
Remember chickens like to dust bathe so an open area would be nice for them.
Perhaps a raised portion with peet moss in it?

Edited to add
Perhaps you could do a hoop run for them to be safe in.
This link has good instructions. You could probably make one much shorter using PVC and hardware cloth. I think this will give you the concept.
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/ASC/ASC189/ASC189.pdf

 

[lularat]

Congratulations on your new chickens and welcome! You could also put a layer of sand over the area. I put a 4" layer of sand in my run and occasionally add more. If predators are a problem in your area, don't use chicken wire for your enclosure. It is not strong enough to keep a determined predator out. Use hardware cloth, it's much stronger.

 

[4 the Birds]

hi there, this is my first post on this forum. thanks for creating such a great resource.

for starters: i live in northeast los angeles in a rental and i acquired two pullets (one silkie and one light brahma) from chickens galore a few days ago.

we had only intended to go ~browse~ the hatchery but we fell in love/got excited and left with two new friends. we stopped at a nearby tractor supply and bought a small simple coop that is similar to a rabbit hutch.

the plan was/is to put this coop on the side of our house in a fenced in, somewhat secure area that is intended to be a dog run (my dogs ignore this area in favor of our front yard). the ground in this area is covered in rocks and gravel but we planned to shovel the rocks away so that the chickens could free range here and walk on dirt/weeds/sparse grass. unfortunately, once we started to shovel the gravel we realized that there is some kind of a heavy duty cloth of some kind under the gravel/above the dirt. i am not sure what it is but it's everywhere and it seems that the plan to have the chickens on dirt in this area is not going to happen.

does anyone have any thoughts on this situation? is it okay to have the chickens walking around on this gravel? what would you, much more experienced people, do?

currently, the chickens are living in their coop in my laundry room while we decide what to do. we have been taking them into the front yard for supervised sunshine and digging time.

we would also like to build some kind of extension or larger, secure enclosure for the chickens and their coop. racoons and stray cats are a concern in our area. any insight is greatly appreciated. these chickens are intended as pets but we probably do not want to keep them in our laundry room much longer!

Welcome! I would rake the gravel to a corner pile and leave it or remove if you don't want a mound. The landscape fabric is nice to leave to knock down mud after rains. Add a 3 to 4 inch layer of pine chips or bedding of you choice and you are good to go.