The best material for a chicken coop or run floor is one that is hard wearing and easy to clean.
Chicken run flooring gravel.
I have bought some bags of pea gravel today which a friend of mine uses it sounds good as the gravel can just be hosed down and disinfected.
Some chicken keepers have commented that their chickens don t like walking on pea gravel but it is a longer lasting option to wood products especially if you don t have any plans on repositioning your run though won t have any nutritional benefit to the soil if you choose to dig it in.
Wood shavings or straw.
Gravel can help disperse flooding rains into the soil with sand much like a drain field from a septic tank.
Possible fixes for a muddy chicken run.
If your birds are entirely in a gravel ground coop you will want to find a little corner and add in the dirt.
Re grading is a big job but after a few years of the coop staying in one spot it may need to be done to avoid a muddy chicken run.
Therefore it s possible to cause bumblefoot and other foot problems.
Trenches to divert the water.
The pros and cons of using the 8 most common chicken coop flooring materials.
Do yourself a favor and go with construction grade sand.
Flooring materials vary widely in quality cost maintenance needs and safety.
However chickens love to dig holes and will unearth the gravel.
Solutions to many of the cons associated with flooring materials.
Or a local farm type store called runnings has it as well.
The flock loves to sift though the leftover bedding but if it s left on the ground for long it builds up.
This sand is easily found by us at home depot and its a 50 lb.
Our chicken coop turned more like construction grade sand because we have a gravel ground to begin with.
Good chicken coop flooring is safe predator and rodent proof durable and easy to clean.
I have sand wood chip wire solid wood linoleum and dirt in various coops around my fields.
Following the general rule of 4 sq ft.
The run is permanently situated and has an earth bottom at the moment i have wood bark in the run but its only a stop gap as i know its not really too good to use but what is the best thing to use.
I keep hearing about all these people cleaning up their chicken coop and run all the time and i m wondering if i m missing something.
The bottom line is organic matter leaves wood chips grass clippings kitchen scraps all go in the run.
Chickens need to take dust baths to keep mites and such off of their bodies.
In this article you will learn.