Newbie

[cef6259]

Hi - I am in the process of converting a 10 x 20 dog run into a chicken coop. We have put a wooden "playhouse" in one end of the pen to house the chickens . We will have nesting boxes in the house accessible from the outside. We have enclosed the top of the run with chicken wire. I need some advice.... The run is concrete with the chain link fence buried into the concrete. What should I use on the concrete? Shavings, dirt, sand? The chickens will also have free range time. The run is very shady which will be nice in the Georgia heat. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Dmontgomery]

If the cover over the run is just the wire, I wouldn't even consider the shavings. I would think they would get soaked in the rain and may never dry out if there is a lot of shade. Sand would definitely drain better than dirt since the base is concrete. But it might get too hot in the summer unless it's covered with something else like grass clippings or hay. Same with just bare dirt though. So my opinion is a few inches of sand and a few more inches of deep litter. Hope you get more hits with better ideas than mine.

 

[aart]

Does the concrete pad drain well....no standing water puddles?
Is the shade evergreen or deciduous?
Good airflow in there?

Sand might 'drain' better, but offers a bad environment for decomposition.
Wet sand saturated with pulverized poop is a nasty, nasty smell.
'Dry' would be nice but decomposition is what you really want, especially in a damper environment.

 

[MandalaMaMa]

I personally would use straw. Yes some will get kicked out through the fence but I have found that it really helps in the wet season here on the Oregon coast. Plus it would give them something to scratch around in. And it will make nice compost when you want to clean it out. Easy to clean with a plastic grain shovel.