Wire as the coop floor?

[jahphotogal]

I designed a pvc pipe henhouse and run, based on a design on Mother Earth News. The floor of the run is made of 1" hardware cloth, to be secure from predators, and it sits on the ground. Is it bad for the chickens' feet that they're on wire? Should I put something on top of it to protect them? (I'm trying to keep the weight down so I can move it easily around the yard.)

I did put a pan of dirt in so they could take dirt baths, which they love! They only get to go outside for an hour or two in the evening when I'm watching, in case the neighbor's murderous dog comes back!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

The hardware cloth is hard on their feet, yes.

If it were me, I'd put down some stall mats and hose them off periodically. Here the feed store sells them for about $30 each and they are ??maybe 4 x 5 feet? They are made of rubber I think.

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplie...01&langId=-1&division=FarmTek&productId=22443
This is sort of what I'm talking about.

Also on Craigslist sometimes I see stall mats for sale.

One thing I just thought of is, if those black mats will be in the sun, they'll get awful hot and might burn their feet- so I'd not use them in the sun.

 

[jahphotogal]

Hmmm... I must have something around the house that would work - come to think of it I have just the thing!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Hmmm... I must have something around the house that would work - come to think of it I have just the thing!

Awesome! Frankly hardware cloth doesn't let poo through well anyway and I have found that I have to hose down hutches with wire bottoms anyway once a week if I use them.