[blossom1044]

We're new to chicken keeping and had them only 6 months before fox got them.  Getting more.  Now we've been kepping our chooks on the grass and moving around, but if look at my post re rabbits and chckens, we have limited grass space.

We have no chooks at moment and have built a new pen bigger and more secure.  It isn't yet secured into ground.  

My question is can we put it on our tarmac/concrete area?  If so what would be best scratching material?  will the hard surface hurt them when scratching?  How deep should we put the material?

Our previous chooks were 4 isa brown from a local organic free range farm who were about 9 months old when they came to us.  They were lovely birds and it was such a shame to see them that fateful morning.  I was never bothered about foxes before - rats yes (grrr), but foxes now I have a hatred!

[Ruby Red]

Sorry but its no good blaming the foxes. You say it is more secure now, so obviously it wasnt as good as it could have been before. Im not getting at you but you owe it to any livestock you keep , to think ahead and make it as safe and comfortable for them before you buy it. Unfortunately they cant do anything about their surroundings and rely on you totally. Glad youve made it safer. As regards the run area, you could buy bags of big bark and rake it over every couple of weeks or so.

[blossom1044]

thank you so very much for your advice and I am now more than aware of the problems I caused myself.

I was naive to think that the coup and run I bought was secure enough.  I have learnt my lesson which is why we haven't bought any chickens and waited till we were better prepared.

thank you for the advice on the bark.  I will make sure it is safe and not harm them.

[milly8]

we have our chickens on bark over concrete and find its working very well so far(6months)the chicks scratch happily in the bark and i throw their grain treats directly on to it as it makes them work a little to get it so they dont get bored.every week or so i give it a good rake over.i was told i would only have to change it yearly when it loses its sweet smell. three big bags cost ten pounds from homebase and that gave us about 4cm or so over our run