What to put in bottom of run/coop?

[itskels]

We have almost finished building our coop and have decided to put down wire on the bottom of the run to hopefully keep predators from digging in. Once we do though, we'll obviously need to put something down on top of the wire. What is the best things to use...sand, pea gravel? We currently only have one hen. She is allowed to free range while we are home during the day. She will only be locked in the coop if we are not home and at night. The actual coop part has linoleum flooring for easy cleaning. Will I need to put something down on top of the linoleum as well? If so, what's best for that?

 

[jruhle]

I would add wood shavings or sawdust over the linoleum to absorb poop and odors, plus they love to roll around in it to keep the bugs off!

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I would skip the wire on the inside of the run so your girls can still dig in the dirt. An apron of wire 18"-24" inches out from the run will do the same thing but leave your run with dirt for scratching in.

I have chainlink for an apron and after 3 years I've had a couple animals try digging and they hit the chainlink apron and stop digging.

 

[RonP]

I would add wood shavings or sawdust over the linoleum to absorb poop and odors, plus they love to roll around in it to keep the bugs off!

I would skip the wire on the inside of the run so your girls can still dig in the dirt. An apron of wire 18"-24" inches out from the run will do the same thing but leave your run with dirt for scratching in.

I have chainlink for an apron and after 3 years I've had a couple animals try digging and they hit the chainlink apron and stop digging.

Both good suggestions.

 

[barneveldrerman]

I would use pine shavings in the coop. For the pen out side you don't need to put wire on the floor. If you do use wire I would put 3 feet of dirt or sand over it.



Hope this helped!

 

[KateS]

Just finished our 14x30 run that was semi-pre-fab. After trying a product (digdefence.com), which is interesting for deterring predators for those who don't live in extremely rocky environments, we decided to dig a three foot wide apron with our tractor surrounding the run. We rolled down heavy gauge dipped galvanized 1x2 wire around the perimeter, making an apron and attached it to the exterior base with poultry hardware. Covered the whole thing with topsoil and seeded it with grass. I don't think predators will be able to get through it; cost me $200 for the excellent quality wire, another $50 for the soil and should last forever.

 

[RonP]

Just finished our 14x30 run that was semi-pre-fab. After trying a product (digdefence.com), which is interesting for deterring predators for those who don't live in extremely rocky environments, we decided to dig a three foot wide apron with our tractor surrounding the run. We rolled down heavy gauge dipped galvanized 1x2 wire around the perimeter, making an apron and attached it to the exterior base with poultry hardware. Covered the whole thing with topsoil and seeded it with grass. I don't think predators will be able to get through it; cost me $200 for the excellent quality wire, another $50 for the soil and should last forever.

Excellent!