tractor run flooring, yes or no?

[ditto]

we're so new to chickens, we dont' have any chickens yet :*) We're in the stages of designing a tractor coop. I've seen some with no flooring in the run area, and some with a wire fencing flooring in the run. i guess to hinder predators. which is best? thanks

 

[mcjessen]

Are you asking about the coop or the run? If you do mean the run, I wouldn't put wire on the bottom as chickens like to dig and scratch the ground. I'm not sure how easily they would be able to do that if there were wire on the ground.

If you are talking about the coop, then I imagine the decision would depend on what kind of predators you have in your area. We have only cats and dogs. Some on this board have said that putting just wire on the bottom of the coop is hard for the chickens to walk on.

Personally if it were me, I wouldn't "wire" the bottom of either. Hope that helps. Good luck

 

[kwork]

Would 2x4 Hardware Wire in the bottom of the run area be sufficient to let them scratch a bit but still provide some added protection against nighttime tunnelers? I'm making a tractor too (no chickens yet) and was planning on adding it to the bottom for 2 reasons. (1) to reduce the amount of digging the chickens were able to do so the yard doesn't get destroyed so quickly and (2) to keep out predators.
Is my logic off??

 

[elmo]

If you put wire on the bottom of your tractor, remember that some of the droppings will probably catch on the wire and be brought along when you move the tractor. How much depends on how large the openings in the wire are, I would think.

 

[patandchickens]

Personally, seeing how central it is to chicken behavior to have them able to scratch and dig, I am not in favor of a wire floor on a tractor UNLESS you are in an unusually high-predator-risk area yet have to use a tractor rather than a fixed coop.

Note that if you have a wire floor, you MUST have a solid-floored area to put them in while you move the tractor. (With no floor on the run portion, they can just walk along inside while you carefully move the tractor)

JMHO,

Pat

 

[kwork]

Quote:
The upper area of my tractor will have a solid wood floor so they can stay in the coop area when I move it. I'm thinking of putting a tray of sand for them to scratch around in too. And once they are comfortable, we'll let them run around the yard some in the evenings.