Metal in soil - Need a new run

[rosemarythyme]

My flower beds are improved beds and have 8" of good soil on top. Even there, their "holes" are only about an inch deep.
Digging down 6" just seems crazy but i guess i have lazy birds.

Probably the big difference is free ranged birds have the option to dig around in multiple spots, so it spread out the holes they make, vs chickens in a run where due to limited space they tend to dig up the same spots over and over.

For me the worst spots are along the edge of the run fence, they really like to excavate those areas. In the spots where they've dug down the most I placed large branches (like roost size) across in the indentations so they can't dig right up against the fence.

 

[K0k0shka]

My soil is so hard i can balance myself on a shovel (im 250lbs) and barely scratch the surface. Go down below topsoil and if you take a piece of the orange clay and let it dry, you need a hammer to break it.
But my brahmas dust themselves under their elevated coop, on the ground in the wood shed, and in the flower beds. My flower beds are improved beds and have 8" of good soil on top. Even there, their "holes" are only about an inch deep.
Digging down 6" just seems crazy but i guess i have lazy birds.

@aart you had the tunneling gopher chickens, right? I think we need some photo evidence here

My soil is full of rocks and boulders and also difficult to dig through. That’s why I’m not worried about them going more than 6 inches down either.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Probably the big difference is free ranged birds have the option to dig around in multiple spots, so it spread out the holes they make, vs chickens in a run where due to limited space they tend to dig up the same spots over and over.

For me the worst spots are along the edge of the run fence, they really like to excavate those areas. In the spots where they've dug down the most I placed large branches (like roost size) across in the indentations so they can't dig right up against the fence.

Is it boredom? Or they just find a soft spot and keep hitting it?
My adults are free range but my pullets (2mos -4mos) and cockerels are in a coop & run set up. I provided them a 2ft x 4ft x 4in deep "sandbox" for dusting and they love it. Ive seen no other evidence of digging anywhere else.

I find this very interesting. Since ive never witnessed the behavior, im very curious.

 

[paulinachickies]

Thanks everyone. They free range with supervision, but given our property is rather small and is likely (mostly) contaminated, my thought was to confine them to one area and make sure that area is clean. I've seen them dig very deep for dust baths and just to entertain themselves... I think we have the opposite problem as the clay soil! That makes me think I should also get some toys / entertainment for the run. I like the idea for a sandbox and ground cover material.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is it boredom? Or they just find a soft spot and keep hitting it?

Maybe a bit of both? We have decently soft soil, and I use deep litter which is fairly loose and they enjoy digging into that, maybe a little too enthusiastically.

Also for a while I know they were attracted to the fence line because one of the girls took up nibbling on the concrete around the fence posts. The base of the posts are all covered up with bricks and rocks now.

 

[aart]

My birds are confined, so maybe 'boredom', the soil is also a sandy loam so easy to dig.
I think they go after moles/voles/whatever tunneling, even softer soil.
I had reshingled the coop shed a few years before building coop inside,
despite many large rolling magnet runs I still find an occasional roofing nail in the runs,
along with other metal/plastic detritus. Never had a bird eat any, to my knowledge.

Hard to say what's the best route for @paulinachickies to go here,
but I'd advise against any buried barrier.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/excavation-by-birds-a-word-of-warning.1086535/
Because, yeah....this hole was a good 6-8" deep.
They go even deeper now that there's an added 4-6" of wood chippings and other.

 

[perkolator]

What I would do: level out current ground, cover with hardware cloth and stake down, bury with 8"+ of wood chips. Done.

No tilling or digging out soil, hardware cloth barrier to keep chickens from digging into "bad" dirt or from excavating huge holes (and to keep digging predators out) provides wood chips to soak up funk and give chickens something to dig through, a year later rake out chips to compost pile/garden use and put in fresh chips to start over.

 

[Mtnboomer]

What I would do: level out current ground, cover with hardware cloth and stake down, bury with 8"+ of wood chips. Done.

No tilling or digging out soil, hardware cloth barrier to keep chickens from digging into "bad" dirt or from excavating huge holes (and to keep digging predators out) provides wood chips to soak up funk and give chickens something to dig through, a year later rake out chips to compost pile/garden use and put in fresh chips to start over.

How big is the run? For example a 200sf run at 8" deep equals 134 cf of wood chips. Thats about 65 bags @ almost $5 a bag.
I would invest my time and sweat equity to be sure there is even a problem before investing that kind of dough into something on which my chickens will poop.

 

[redfoxco]

Just a thought ... If I were in your shoes, I'd put down a few inches of crusher fines or roadbase, compact it, and then lay hardware cloth over it. Then I'd put a few inches of sand, wood chips, or your bedding of choice on top of that. The chickens would have a comfortable bedding layer to live on and wouldn't be able to dig past the hardware cloth, but you wouldn't be sacrificing drainage.

 

[K0k0shka]

How big is the run? For example a 200sf run at 8" deep equals 134 cf of wood chips. Thats about 65 bags @ almost $5 a bag.
I would invest my time and sweat equity to be sure there is even a problem before investing that kind of dough into something on which my chickens will poop.

You can get wood chips for free from landscaping companies looking to get rid of them. There's even an online service that matches supply with demand:
https://getchipdrop.com/