Ok Why do they dig these two foot holes in the outdoor run? Even if I fill them in so that predators can't get under the wire cloth we laid down deep, the chickens keep making these tunnels. I am starting to think they are tunneling out of prison? Any explanation for this behavior?
Think of it as a community bath. At least with mine, they dig big bowl shaped holes and everyone crawls in and dirt bathes together.
Mine do that, after all the trouble we endured to make the run predator-proof. You can reduce it slightly by providing them with a sand box filled with play sand and some food-grade diatomaceous earth. It has the added benefit of dusting them, possibly preventing lice, ticks, mites. I have mine indoors under a platform so that when they get playing in there some of the sand actually goes back in the box!