What flooring in small run?

[Mel281]

When you have a coop that has a small run attached to the coop, ie something like this, do you put bedding/litter down in the run or leave it as is?
REally, I have two questions:
1. Is this best to be a concrete slab or bare ground?

2. On top of whatever you decide in question #1, Do you put bedding or sand any thing at all on top of it? ie, can you do the deep litter method in it or is that really more for inside the coop itself?

 

[cafarmgirl]

In such a small area I would think sand would be the easiest to keep clean, you can basically just scoop poop like with kitty litter. It will also allow for good drainage to keep things drier.

A concrete slab would be good for a couple reasons. It would prevent digging under by predators and it since it's wood along the bottom it's going to rot a lot faster if it's sitting on the ground all the time.

Concrete isn't the greatest for chickens however so a thick layer of sand would be needed. You might have to put a barrier along the bottom to keep bedding in.

 

[poodlechicks]

My coop is the exact same one. Unfortunately, it didn't stay pretty for long. The wood started cracking and the door to the run warped. I put up chain link fence segments around it and a tarp on top to prevent rain from leaking into the coop. I have tarp around most of the fence to break the wind during winter, which will be removed. But I'll leave the tarp on top. Sorry to be a little off topic. I just want you to know what might happen to your coop after just a few months of use.

Now, for the bedding: I put wood on top of small metal cart that I had available and placed the coop/run on top of the wood. This helps the wood frame of the run to last longer because it is not in contact with the ground. Also, it enables me to move the coop if I want to.
I then covered the run with pine shavings. In the winter, it helped my chickens warm up their feet and have a place to scratch for food when I put treats for them every morning. This helps them curb the stress of not being able to forage due to snow. The shavings are also good for composting their droppings, as they turn it around when scratching for food. Later in the spring, it will have composted enough that I can add it to my garden. Hope that helped.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Poodlechicks makes a good point about the wood these coops are made of. I have a couple pre-fab rabbit hutches made of this type of wood and they definitely do NOT hold up to weather, I keep them in a barn for the winter. A little off topic perhaps but something to be aware of.

 

[Mel281]

My coop is the exact same one. Unfortunately, it didn't stay pretty for long. The wood started cracking and the door to the run warped. I put up chain link fence segments around it and a tarp on top to prevent rain from leaking into the coop. I have tarp around most of the fence to break the wind during winter, which will be removed. But I'll leave the tarp on top. Sorry to be a little off topic. I just want you to know what might happen to your coop after just a few months of use.

Thanks. We actually are planning to build one, I just needed an example picture of what I was talking about. I appreciate the heads up, as I'm sure other newbies reading this thread will!