Run Flooring Choices

[RocheeBum]

Okay so, our Easter holiday chicken run project is well underway! Our next step is deciding on flooring for the run.

Background: We live in the UK, so expect quite a bit of rain. Our run will be 1/4 to 1/2 covered with a solid roof. The run is 3m x 2m. And also has a raised chicken coop. It will house 3-5 Silkie Bantams (depending on how the hatching goes) and they will also be allowed to free-range the garden when we come home in the evening.

Currently the ground is mud. We are going to level it out. Secure wire mesh across the whole floor (added security from the local fox) and then add a membrane/ weed matting across the whole floor to suppress the weeds and mud coming through.

The Question:
Now we are just deciding on substrate. In my head I have sand or gravel. What are your experiences, advice and thoughts on these choices?

 

[igorsMistress]

You won't have weeds after a year, I can just about guarantee it.

Gravel will eventually get mashed down into the muck and it isn't easy for chickens to scratch in. I don't care for sand because it's heavy and dusty. I have a dirt floor covered in pine bedding but I would really like to try hemp. It's got great reviews.

 

[Mraya]

I use the deep litter method for my run. A mix of dry leaves, pine needles, straw, mulch dry grass clippings all mixed together.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

We just use the dirt floor over the summer. They don't spend much time in the anyway since they free range. Over the winter we throw straw down and do deep litter until spring.

 

[jbear697]

We have just have the natural dirt which has been packed down and mixed by the chooks moving around. It does get muddy but its better for the chooks. I wouldn't worry about weed matting. The chooks will eat, scratch and poo on everything til it dies. We put in little boxes inside for them to nest which is a plastic water container (heavy duty) cut up so it is one chook only size. This has straw or paper depending on what we have to keep them warm. It gets cold here. They also have a repurposed ladder to roost on. We have had no issues. The run isn't slippery even when it is wet but inside their house it gets a bit slippery. You could pack it down with gravel and do a gravel-dirt mix as the final top. I think that would stop slipping in the wet.