What to put on the bottom of my coop and run

[FridayYet]

X2 what OFW said. Any way you could remove a section of brick in the run so the chickens could dig in the soil? If not, I'd go with the sand and straw. Just know you'll need to clean it out a lot, so don't get too many chickens for your space.

 

[gabz44]

Thank you @OrganicFarmWife

 

[gabz44]

@FridayYet how often do you recommend cleaning if? Also to clean do you take the straw out and rake the top layer of sand ?? Or have to hose down sand all the time? Sorry I'm new at this and want to make sure I'm doing this right

 

[FridayYet]

That's why I was wondering if you could take any bricks out. If you have bare soil, you can do the deep litter method in your run and only clean it once or twice a year.

On a hard surface you have to clean more often since there are no soil organisms to help break down the waste. So yes, you'll probably need to rake out the hay/straw/wood chips once a week or so and rake the sand. Since you have a nice roof you probably don't have to worry about the sand smelling (wet poopy sand really stinks!)

You will need to experiment a bit and see what works best.

Oh, you'll also want a tub - like a rubbermaid basin you wash dishes in - with sand/dirt/wood ashes/peat moss for them to take dust baths in.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Were the bricks an attempt at protecting from predators? It will help, keep animals from burrowing under. But if you took the bricks out of the middle (if this is possible) that would keep the protection, but allow them access to soil.

 

[gabz44]

@OrganicFarmWife
Yes the person who made the plans said it needed to rest on brick or cement. I think she also was trying to protect animals from coming in.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

@OrganicFarmWife
Yes the person who made the plans said it needed to rest on brick or cement. I think she also was trying to protect animals from coming in.

Is the brick mortar in? You could still keep the coop level and protected if you took the middle bricks out, leaving a foot of brick around the wall

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Is the brick mortar in? You could still keep the coop level and protected if you took the middle bricks out, leaving a foot of brick around the wall

But understand this is mostly just for ease of cleaning. The birds might dig into it, but they would be very happy with sand and straw over the brick.

 

[FridayYet]

That's exactly what I was thinking. My old coop below was on cement blocks, slightly above ground level. (The hardware cloth extended another foot underground)
This pic was before I had finished the interior door or nestboxes - not that the chicken's cared!






But the ground in the run had wood shavings, grass clippings, etc. that just decomposed with the chicken waste as they scratched everything together.

I still miss that coop - it was so easy to clean!

 

[FloridaChick13]

I pretty much live in the Everglades and the ground is soft sand. That is the flooring for my coop and run. I do try to top it with pine shavings because when it rains the ground gets super wet. Any other good advice to help keep their feet drier when the sand is wet? Straw? Pine chips?