Run Floor

[BDutch]

Concrete is stronger and won't rust in a few years like hardware cloth does. The OP mentioned concrete and if there's a budget for it I say go for it.

A late reaction to this post. I made a pathway with 30x30 cm (1sqft) paving stones alongside the run. Easy to pick up and reuse when I have other plans in the future.
The standard ones are not expensive and often offered secondhand.

 

[BDutch]

Fine playground (silica) sand and diatomaceous earth are not suitable for chickens as they have very delicate respiratory systems. Appropriate chicken dust bath substrates are coarse sand, plain top soil/dirt, peat moss, or a mix of these. No need to add any pesticides to the mix.

Any experience with this or just repeating what other people say?

Mine get a mix of our soil (loam with sand and organic materials ) , playground sand (not very fine at all) and a few spoons of DE in their sandbath area.I do this for 10 years now. Chickens never had any problems with breathing. My oldest chickens are almost 11 and 12 yo.

 

[BDutch]

They really, really love to scratch and dig, deep holes, and that is why they recommend NOT putting hardware cloth under the dirt, no matter how deep. They could hurt their feet and get bumble foot.

Yes + the hwc in the ground gets rusty, breaks down within a number of years. Imagine what happens if the chickens dig up pieces of rusty metal?

 

[Ted Brown]

A late reaction to this post. I made a pathway with 30x30 cm (1sqft) paving stones alongside the run. Easy to pick up and reuse when I have other plans in the future.
The standard ones are not expensive and often offered secondhand.

Very much agree with your later points. Also if one has an unused concrete pad then put something that the flock likes on top and use it; Prince Woods emphasized that concrete is an excellent deterrent to rats and other such uglies.

@BDutch are you using these as pathway stones? Once down a concrete pad is very difficult to undo. My observation is bigger patio blocks, ie 2' x 2' or above, are the same.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Any experience with this or just repeating what other people say?

I admit I don't have firsthand experience, because I was warned by others and I read the warning labels on the bags. The labels say to wear a mask when generating dust with the products. My thoughts are if it causes silicosis in humans it can't be good for chickens to dust bathe in.

 

[BDutch]

Very much agree with your later points. Also if one has an unused concrete pad then put something that the flock likes on top and use it; Prince Woods emphasized that concrete is an excellent deterrent to rats and other such uglies.

@BDutch are you using these as pathway stones? Once down a concrete pad is very difficult to undo. My observation is bigger patio blocks, ie 2' x 2' or above, are the same.

The ones I use outside the run as a path and protection against digging predators are the same as the towns/cities use for pavement next to the street for pedestrians.
In theory rats or mice might be able to dig pathways underneath. But so far I never had any rodents in the run.

To give an idea of the size:

 

[BDutch]

I admit I don't have firsthand experience, because I was warned by others and I read the warning labels on the bags. The labels say to wear a mask when generating dust with the products. My thoughts are if it causes silicosis in humans it can't be good for chickens to dust bathe in.

After the DE is mixed with a whole lot of sand, the DE attaches to the courser sand. The dust level decreases and doesn’t hurt the lungs if mixed. Mixed it’s still effective against lice and mites.

Its true you have to be very careful if you apply it pure. The advice is not to inhale dust clouds of DE.

I make a yoghurt thick kind of paint from the DE too and apply it on the roosts and the walls the chickens can touch with their feathers. It helps at lot against the red mite. Red mites are often a plague for many chicken keepers where I live.

Even the industrial farmers use it. Many farmers spray all the walls and objects in the chicken stables after cleaning and before the new pullets are brought in.

 

[Ponypoor]

Any experience with this or just repeating what other people say?

Mine get a mix of our soil (loam with sand and organic materials ) , playground sand (not very fine at all) and a few spoons of DE in their sandbath area.I do this for 10 years now. Chickens never had any problems with breathing. My oldest chickens are almost 11 and 12 yo.

I use play sand no issues. And the fine dusty topsoil is like fine powder here in the summer when it’s hot and dry.

I think there are many misconceptions surrounding ‘Silica’

Real silica is what is used in abrasive blasting (sand blasting) and this is where people feel that silica is bad, the silica that is blasted to bits in sand blasting becomes extremely tiny microscopic and able to be inhaled deep into the lungs. This can lead to Silacosis, breathing in regular dusty sand will not. And I know this because a bunch of our crew on a construction site was whinging about the dusty conditions and then someone mentioned silica and so and so forth… we ended up having to get a specialist in the test the soils - yep sandy soil, yep dusty. Worry about silica??? Big fat no! “Get your butts back to work!”.

So do not worry about you wee chooks getting silacosis, and worry more about ammonia in rotting wet/damp bedding/footings.

An easy way to see if you have an ammonia issue is to actually lay down on the ground where the chooks roam, remember they are less than a foot from the ground, and will be breathing in any ammonia.

 

[Ponypoor]

The ones I use outside the run as a path and protection against digging predators are the same as the towns/cities use for pavement next to the street for pedestrians.
In theory rats or mice might be able to dig pathways underneath. But so far I never had any rodents in the run.

To give an idea of the size:
View attachment 4309654

I also use brick pavers in the barn, my whole floor (stalls included) are those pavers. They are relatively easy to install, and drain well.

Outside I will use electric fencing to keep predators away. Zap!!! Love electric fencing! If it can keep a bear away from the bins in our work camps it will keep the raccoons and foxes away from the run. Now if I can just cover the run somehow….. may need a lottery win for that!