Run ground question

[Acre4Me]

It sounds like a combination of the following may be the best bet as a coop/run floor?
1. Pond liner to cover grass once chickens have eaten it all
2. Course concrete gravel (maybe 2 inches deep)
3. Sand on top of gravel (maybe 4 inches deep)

Can anyone comment on this if you have layered or combined gravel with sand, or laid sand on top of gravel. Good idea, or no?

Where are you located? Type of soil, and is the run dry or does it hold water from rain for any length of time?

Don’t think you woul need the layer of plastic.

If a wetter run, I have known people to use gravel/sand -applied when ground was dry. Then use hay/straw/clippings on top for chicken enjoyment.

However, chickens do like to scratch and dust bathe, so if you follow the gravel route, you should plan for a chicken dust bath area in the run. Dustbath:a mix of dirt/sand/wood ash/DE, small and fine grit (chick grit) in any combination but go easy on the DE.

 

[aart]

It sounds like a combination of the following may be the best bet as a coop/run floor?
1. Pond liner to cover grass once chickens have eaten it all
2. Course concrete gravel (maybe 2 inches deep)
3. Sand on top of gravel (maybe 4 inches deep)

Can anyone comment on this if you have layered or combined gravel with sand, or laid sand on top of gravel. Good idea, or no?

No need for pond liner, and could be disastrous with holding water if exposed to rain or waterer spills.
Sand would migrate into gravel, with help from the chickens.
Sand and gravel would eventually become saturated with pulverized poops(no matter how much you sift out daily) and reek when damp.
May depend on were you are located and how big your run and how many birds.

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[Alwaysblessed03]

Ive done it all!! Straw....don't go there! Sand was ok, I used a big cat litter scoop taped on the end of a shovel stick and sifted the poop out. Any kind of shavings became a nasty, wet, stinky mess. I like bare ground best. Also it depends on your land, is your run covered? Is it in a wettish area? How big is the run and how many chickens will be in there and for how long every day?

Where are you located? Type of soil, and is the run dry or does it hold water from rain for any length of time?

Don’t think you woul need the layer of plastic.

If a wetter run, I have known people to use gravel/sand -applied when ground was dry. Then use hay/straw/clippings on top for chicken enjoyment.

However, chickens do like to scratch and dust bathe, so if you follow the gravel route, you should plan for a chicken dust bath area in the run. Dustbath:a mix of dirt/sand/wood ash/DE, small and fine grit (chick grit) in any combination but go easy on the DE.

Thank you so much for this reply. This is really helpful!! Our run would be covered and mostly shaded. We are in zone 7b. Our soil is pretty good; I don't remember seeing sand....possibly a little clay?

 

[Acre4Me]

Thank you so much for this reply. This is really helpful!! Our run would be covered and mostly shaded. We are in zone 7b. Our soil is pretty good; I don't remember seeing sand....possibly a little clay?

So, where are you approximately? Some areas have clay soil, some sandy, etc. is your yard sloped or flat?

we have clay soil here (Ohio), and the land is relatively flat in this area. Our yard area where the raised beds and chicken run are gets pretty wet when it rains. With alot of rain and it “floods” for a couple of hours, but does drain pretty quickly. The chicken run (that is dirt mixed with some sand due to pavers that were there when it was a dog run) doesn’t hold water at all, thankfully, but we are putting a roof over it, so we don’t have a need for gravel. Our neighbor did have to use gravel due to a soggy run, in part due to runoff from a neighbor’s gradually sloped yard in combination with heavy clay soil. So, even a roof on his run would not have kept his run totally dry. But, with gravel, it is dry.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It sounds like a combination of the following may be the best bet as a coop/run floor?
1. Pond liner to cover grass once chickens have eaten it all
2. Course concrete gravel (maybe 2 inches deep)
3. Sand on top of gravel (maybe 4 inches deep)

Can anyone comment on this if you have layered or combined gravel with sand, or laid sand on top of gravel. Good idea, or no?

I use gravel as one of my substrates. I wouldn't put a liner underneath, it won't allow drainage. We just rake up droppings occasionally, and top off yearly as the chickens eat the smaller stones. We have used regular sized gravel and smaller road base size. The smaller stuff gets eaten up quicker.

 

[paneubert]

Why would you be using a pond liner.........unless you are trying to make a pond. Aren't you trying to maintain good drainage? Think about the liquid and smell that would puddle on top of your liner.


EDIT:

Somehow I did not see any replies after the post I quoted. Haha. Sorry for saying the same thing everyone else was saying. Haha.

 

[jreardon1918]

Here are a picture of our covered run. It is 18 months in. Never cleaned it. It has in it, some pine shavings from two coop cleanups, leaves, pine needles, garden waste, cut grass, scooped poops from the poop boards,

Also included the uncovered run that is newer. Will get all the leaves from fall cleanups. This ground is somewhat bare. But will get better.