Making a coop skirt

[LillianMae]

So I'm planning on making a coop skirt since I'm getting more chickens this year. All of the chickens have to move into the big part of the barn in a few months once the chicks are too big for the brooder, so I need to finish the big part of the barn now. I have wire for closing off the eaves, but I don't have enough to make a coop skirt. I was wondering if I could do this with long pieces of plywood? I could lay them down along the inside/outside of the barn. Would this work? Whatever killed the chickens we had years ago in the barn before either dug in or flew in.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I would not use plywood. It will rot and give mice, rats, and snakes a great hiding place. It also gives digging things a boundary to show them where they need to start digging.

 

[aart]

By coop skirt do you mean something like this?

I call it an apron.

 

[LillianMae]

Yes, I might be able to get wire or my dad and I might just pour concrete in a little part of our barn but I want a nice coop skirt

 

[Ridgerunner]

Then use wire and take up the top two inches of dirt. That's just the sod. Then put the sod back. That holds it down, hides it from view, and keeps it away from lawn mowers and weed eaters.

 

[LillianMae]

The "sod" we have down there is rock hard except for the two holes that our dog dug when we didn't have chickens

 

[Sarevan]

The "sod" we have down there is rock hard except for the two holes that our dog dug when we didn't have chickens

I know what you mean about the ground being hard! Same thing I have in Washington. I had to soak the ground to get a shovel in it, or do any hand digging that needs to be done when it is wet season. That is the way I got the wire under the dirt and repacked it over the top of it. A rottotiller works too to make a soft spot to get the wire under.

I am currently fighting to get the ground wired below for new coop, I thought it would be so easy to dig own lay wire then recover it. Hardpan near surface, clay soil make it very hard to do anything. That is why I don't have a real lawn too hard to work the soil.

 

[LillianMae]

Well we should have our rottotiller fixed soon so maybe I'll do it that way. We're thinking about just using our old pigeon area (it's medium sized and just needs concrete on the bottom). I free range so this is just for sleeping arrangements. The chicks are so cute! I finally named one out of the six (Daisy), and I can't wait till my feedstore gets the other breed I want in a few more days!

 

[DuckyDestiny]

I started repurposing old concrete blocks or bricks. There is maybe a centimeter of dirt between mine and the base of my coop. The chickens immediately stopped scratching or digging anywhere I've placed them. I'm planning on lining the entire perimeter of my coop.

 

[LillianMae]

That might work really well, we have a lot of extra concrete blocks and things like that. Would those work in placement of a wire skirt?