WannaBe

[ED]

I'm going to try my hand at raising some egg laying chicks.
I want to convert my blacktop backyard basketball court into an area for the chickens. Will it be okay to leave the blacktop in place and just cover the area with some hay and topsoil? Should I remove it completely and get down to the soil so that they can scratch around? Does it really make a difference?

 

[BirdBrain]

Chickens really love to scratch and dust bathe. Taking up black top is a really big pain and you may want the space for something else later. So, how about topping it with some dirt and then litter on top of that? Black top really holds the heat and in summer that can be a killer. Is the area shaded with trees at all? Pictures would help.

 

[Lea71]

That sounds so hot!!

You might live in a cooler climate though. Our backyard was filled with small river rock (about 2 inch in size) and impossible to remove, so we enclosed our run, filled it with wheelbarrel after wheelbarrel of topsoil ( a couple of inches thick) and then put some straw on top of that. They sure do dig stuff up though, it seems to be working out fine....and will drain well in winter.