Run in the PNW

[MissAli]

HI! As so many before me, I am asking the question of what material should I choose for my run floor.

We live near Portland, OR and have an outdoor covered 8x12 run for our 4 Hens. Living in the Pacific NorthWest means wet winters and warm mild summers with a few hot spells. We’re starting with a dirt base. I debated sand but wasn’t sure how others had felt about it in a similar climate.

TIA!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Deep litter with a base of coarse wood chips. Chips are usually pretty easy to source in the coastal Pac NW and if you or friends/neighbors like to garden, the broken down litter can be harvested for garden compost. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/prepping-deep-litter-for-fall.1599199/

 

[Fluffany27]

We also live in the Portland metro. The base of our chicken run (8’x16’) is first of all hardware cloth—which I highly recommend due to the predators that WILL try to get in… but we’ve done the deep litter method also. Our base was wood chips (via chip drop) and then we’ve added in leaves, grass clippings, straw, etc.
with how wet it is here & how compacted some of our clay soil is, I didn’t want to deal with a swampy mess like the rest of our yard gets during the rainy season!

 

[MissAli]

Perfect! thanks for the input. I think we are going to do wood chips and deep litter as well

 

[MissAli]

We also live in the Portland metro. The base of our chicken run (8’x16’) is first of all hardware cloth—which I highly recommend due to the predators that WILL try to get in… but we’ve done the deep litter method also. Our base was wood chips (via chip drop) and then we’ve added in leaves, grass clippings, straw, etc.
with how wet it is here & how compacted some of our clay soil is, I didn’t want to deal with a swampy mess like the rest of our yard gets during the rainy season!

Do you use a rodent proof feeder?