Will landscaping fabric hurt my chickens?

[Jkheald]

We have a large sand pit area and just removed the kids swingset to build a coop/run. We were planning on just building right on top of the sand.. I realized it has the weed fabric barrier about 4 inches under the sand. Will the chickens be able to scratch to that? Rip it up, eat it or injure themselves?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They will dig down to it but likely won't eat any if they have food available.

 

[GC-Raptor]

My hens have dug down a foot in their pen.
I don't know if they will tear up weed barrier fabric, but I would remove it.
My hens are the best at weed control. Five hens totally eliminated all vegetation in their 500 square foot pen in 2 1/2 months. GC

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

I'd just leave it..... but then again I'm lazy.

 

[aart]

We have a large sand pit area and just removed the kids swingset to build a coop/run. We were planning on just building right on top of the sand.. I realized it has the weed fabric barrier about 4 inches under the sand. Will the chickens be able to scratch to that? Rip it up, eat it or injure themselves?

Boy, that's really hard to say.
They can easily dig down 8-12", but what would happen when they hit the fabric may depend on how robust it is. Some types of that stuff shreds pretty easy, others are pretty tough.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

My bet is that they'll shred it.
In one coop, I thought I'd go cheap and covered the plywood floor with a waterproof barrier that serves as a tile underlayment. That was covered it 3+ inches of shavings. It wasn't long till that underlayment was completely destroyed. I don't believe they ate any though. They'll opt for food first.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'd just leave it..... but then again I'm lazy.

X2
You can just remove what the chickens expose as they do so.