Pea gravel outdoor flooring for the run - good or bad?

[Lesli Hodges]

You know, DH and I stood for about 15 minutes at Earth First today debating this...lol. Pea gravel only? Pea gravel on the bottom, with coarse sand on top? Coarse sand by itself? We changed our minds about 5 times. Our bantam coop/run is in an area that has good drainage, so we went with the coarse sand alone (although it has a bit of pea gravel mixed in already). I won't be able to tell you about the poo issues for several weeks though, as our babies won't have run access for a while yet.

I'm hoping the clean up will be simple with the sand...

 

[Lesli Hodges]

How did the pea gravel idea work out ? I'm new to raising chickens and I want to move my chicken coop over to the side of the yard that has P gravel down already is that a good idea ?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Hi Lesli.


This looks to be a very old thread.
The original poster has not been on since August 2016.
I will give my thoughts about pea gravel if you like.

Pea gravel is hard to walk on barefoot. It is hard to scratch about in. Bumble foot is often caused by landing on hard things like stones.

I would rake as much of it out as humanly possible, then add sand and lots of it.

 

[Lesli Hodges]

OK thank you very much . The coop is about 4 1/2 feet wide by 8 1/2 feet long I think were able to move it around the yard with about four people as often as we like . Ideally I wanted to make a forever home and build a fence around the area so the chicks could roam freely in the evenings when we are at home . The side of my yard with the most shade is the gravel side which has the best drainage . I did think about just raking the area for the coop and putting sand in it and removing the gravel . I certainly do not want to harm the chickens feet .

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Unless the sand you use has bits of gravel or stones mixed into it (and even then), sand is not an adequate substitute for poultry grit. It's way too fine. Crushed granite, the kind usually sold as poultry grit, is ideal in that the pieces have angular edges, perfect for grinding up food in the chicken's gizzard.

If your chickens free range, they probably are able to scrounge up suitable grit on their own.

That is the only valid reason to have free range chickens. This was back in the days before anyone understood how to keep farm animals safe, healthy and confined. There was no vitamins or any other knowledge about animal health. One of my great grand daddies died back in the 1880s and his last will and testament listed 34 head of earmarked swine running lose in the woods. Be careful about that for which you pine, because it may come to pass.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Deep pea gravel in a run will result in bumble foot.

 

[Lesli Hodges]

I ended up raking the gravel out and leaving mostly dirt it still has a little bit of gravel but mostly dirt . I'm thinking about throwing wood shavings in the run area for now . Planning on getting some reinforcements for the actual coop and some handles so we can move it around the yard and put it on grassy areas as well . Once the chickens get a little bit older they can run around the yard during the day while we are at home and will put them in the coop at night or when we are not at home .

 

[Mattemma]

I added large wood chips due to muddy areas.Would toss straw on top for them to dig around in. They dug their own holes to dust bathe in. Bought bags of cherry grit stone from the feed store. Very nice looking but at $6 a bag too expensive to fill a run with.

Some build a raised garden box with hardwire over it, so chickens can eat but not kill off the grass. My run USED to be all grass.

 

[gsgosselin]

My whole yard is in a low area. So I put solid pea gravel down. It’s a horrible smelly mess. Their poop solidifies and binds all the rocks together. I might toss 3 or 4 inches of sand on top. But don’t use straight pea gravel if you can help it.

 

[gsgosselin]

Hi Lesli.


This looks to be a very old thread.
The original poster has not been on since August 2016.
I will give my thoughts about pea gravel if you like.

Pea gravel is hard to walk on barefoot. It is hard to scratch about in. Bumble foot is often caused by landing on hard things like stones.

I would rake as much of it out as humanly possible, then add sand and lots of it.

Thanks. I hate it. But it was necessary to build up the area. There was standing water. I do have an unlimited supply of pine needles