Pea gravel over concrete slab with a drain for the run?

[Quicky06]

Hello been reading here for a couple weeks while planning my coop and now it's time to ask questions.

I am planning on keeping 4-6 chickens. Which would be more than I need for eggs. Will start with 2 and work up 2 at a time.

Anyway I am planning on building a run with an elevated coop that is based of a design on this site. I will also be building 2 4x8 raised garden beds on each side of it with the intention of collecting rain water from the coop roof and the waste as fertilizer for the beds.

My back yard is closer to a cliff then a hill so I will have to build a flat area by building up the foundation with cinder blocks and filling in. I want to put a concrete slab down with a drain or two in it to insure drainage with pea gravel on top so in theory I could hose down the gravel and it would just take everything down the drain with it. And maybe into a collection tank that I could use to water the plants with.

A my real question is ... Is pea gravel or some sort of gravel a bad choice for the run?

I'm trying to make cleaning as simple as possible and insure good drainage.

I moved here 6 months ago and used to have my aquaponics system running indoors but have decided to move a little bigger and try a different kind of water recycling. Just waiting for the zoning office to return my phone call and tell me if I can legally keep chickens.

Thanks

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Gravel will be very hard on their feet. You might be looking at bumblefoot if it scratches their feet up and gets infected. Just my opinion!

 

[hennible]

That's definitely a good point, but pea gravel does have give in it, it's not like it's wire or mesh that they're standing on all day it's only on the run the coop won't be done with gravel I presume... My birds really enjoyed the pea gravel areas in our property, they spent a lot of time picking trough the gravel probably for bugs... It sounds like a great idea being able to hose it off like that, I like that idea, but if it is hard on their feet it will be a pain in the butt to remove it all and start over... I think I'd go with the pea gravel, but make sure that in the run I gave them a lot of other surfaces as options like a sandbox full of sand for dust bathing, lots of sticks to perch on shelves etc... Another thought is if you do find that it is hard on their feet you can always put straw down in the run, you'd be able to use a pitchfork probably to pick up and clean away the dirty straw and you'd still be able to hose down your run... If you do this pea gravel project I'd sure love to hear about how works for you down the road...

 

[Quicky06]

Thank you for the replies.

Tings have gotten complicated as the spot I need to put this at is on a sewer easement and the pipe is less then 2 feet underground so I have to make it semi movable and the concrete slab is out. I still plan on trying this but will do it with treated lumber and a pond liner.

I never thought about the pea gravel hurting the feet but i will keep an eye out. It will be some time though Don't even have the chicks yet as I am still waiting to hear back from the zoning people to make 100 percent sure its legal to have them. (the neighbors across the street are waiting on my answer too as they want to do the same)