Chickens on concrete?

[Xtina]

My friend who just got stationed in Sicily is asking me about getting a flock of hens at his place. But apparently, there's NO ground at all. So he's going to have to keep hens in a coop with no access to dirt, grass, bugs, anything. I've never thought of doing this before and don't know the practicality. I know that in commercial operations in the states they don't get access to ground, but then the behavior problems crop up. Has anyone ever tried this? Got any advice? Should they just not get chickens?

 

[pgpoultry]

It's not something I would do, mine have 6 fields to free range. How do chickens scratch on concrete?

However, I had heard that the concrete floor needs to be different from the usual for chickens as the uric acid attacks it (May have just been a sales ploy when we were having our barn flooring put in)

 

[Mac in Wisco]

They'll be fine as long as they are not overcrowded. We coop ours up for 4 or 5 months in the winter and they do just fine. They don't need to be on the bare concrete though. Spread a good bedding of leaves or lawn clippings, straw. etc. Give them a pile of dirt to dust bath in. Have plenty of windows to let in natural light.

 

[al6517]

I have almost all of my birds on Concrete floors in the run's and coops, I use good wheat straw hay with plenty of seeds to scratch for. They have been that way for years, they are healthy, with no physical or mental problems. My school of thought on the concrete floors are this, All of these floors were well thought out are sloped for drainage inside and out. they are a cinch to clean and disinfect/sanitize no bug & disease problems that will lurk for years in dirt, if it is easier for me to care for them it is better for my birds, they really like it and the coop/run's are laways in tip top shape and you gotta love that.

The folks who are against concrete floors normally don't have the means nor the energy or know how to put them in, so they just say naw it's not a good idea, which is hooey. they are easy to put in in segments, cheap, and can be done in an hour for a 12'x12'pen. All i can say is from experiance that it works and works well, with the birds just loving it and me too.

AL

 

[illegal avian]

Sicilian Chicken rocks!

 

[Xtina]

Excellent, thank you guys!

 

[Tdub4chiks]

Put some sand in their run over the concrete.

 

[patandchickens]

Some of my runs are on concrete slab. Chuck a bunch of straw, or (nontoxic) garden weedings, or that sort of thing, into there and it is perfectly fine.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat