Please help us on our chicken run! Newbie ...

[Ia(TM)?Chickens]

We were going to put our chicken's in a chicken run that is concrete (floor). When my grandma lived at our house, she was a dog breeder and built this huge foundation for them that are split in 4 runs. So, we were going to put our chickens in them when they got a little bit bigger. But, expand the run so it's bigger. If we do put them in there, should we put something down? Do we have to? If so what?

I'm new at this, we just got some chickens about a month ago at our local country store.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

Where are you? Do you have especially hot summers or especally cold winters?

If you live in my climate:
I would put boards up along the fencing at the bottom to hold in the majority of the bedding/shavings.
I would put down "stuff".
My kind of indoor ( won't get exposed to rain) "stuff" is shredded newspaper sent through an office shredder 5" deep.
My runs ( winter time) are also not exposed to the dirt. My kind of outdoor "stuff" is a layer of alphalfa/grass mix hay put down at least 3" thick. I add to it almost daily and clean it out completely at least 2 times a month. I start all over again after that.
When I clean it out depends on our weather. I never let them walk around on wet bedding. If it rained and then froze too fast, then I ad enough bedding to make it warm , dry, and soft.

Spring, Summertime,and Fall, My flock runs around on over an acre of electric fenced area and they can really mess things up. Poopy Machines. When they are confined it's just more concentrated so plan on cleaning often.

One Very Important Point:

Don't use straw if you live in my kind of area. Once it gets wet, it's very heavy.

PS:

You will be able to find all your answers here. A continuing education class that has no graduates and lots of teachers.

 

[Chicken Chat]

An added bonus is when the chickens scratch around and down to the concrete is they will help to keep their toenails trimmed down.

 

[JP101010]

Keeping chickens is an awesome adventure that i think you will enjoy
- and so far your set up sounds like a great start

... is this run going to be their coop or just a run during the day?
you should put something down- concrete isnt good for their feet- maybe the usual DE and hay or chips but it might flood out when it rains ... sod would be awesome- maybe half of each run put sod down - the chickens would love that:yiipchick
i would put something to make the non sod half shaded - providing shade and rain shelter and the open half allows the sun and rain to reach the growing grass??

i would love to see pics of this chicken run to-be

keep us updated

 

[Ia(TM)?Chickens]

I live in Washington, we dont have very hot summers, our last really hot summer was in 2005. And for our winters, it really depends.

Well, during the day we're going to put them outside, so they can eat bugs and grass. They're to little right now they still walk right through chainlink

. Batman (barred rock) just walked right through. But good thing my little sister is a "chicken whisperer"

 

[Snack Giver]

I also live in the Seattle area. I put natural cedar mulch on my birdies 14' coop/confined area. It is soft and they can still scratch. My area has corrigated plastic on top to keep direct rain out.