[Janschooks]

Hi, My names Jan and will be getting my first chooks soon.

My question is what's the best thing to put on the run floor? This will be it's permanent location.
I have cleared a part of the garden which had been neglected for some years. It currently consists of part weed suppressing membrane covered in chipped bark, part chipped branches (from clearing the area) and some soil. I read on here about chipped rubber and was wondering if this would be ok on top of membrane as suggested by the manufacturer or perhaps something else? There will also be a large litter box of play sand in there for them.
Thanks in advance
Jan

[Roughlee Handled]

Welcome to the mad house.
Sounds great.  But the chickens will probably go through membrane and would appreciate any "weeds".

.......... It currently consists of part weed suppressing membrane........

What are you building the run out of?

[Janschooks]

Hi

I'm building it from planed wood (untreated) and 1/4 inch welded mesh. I am searching for a good animal friendly wood preservative for the timber?
I will also be laying the welded mesh as a walk way around the boundry to help prevent outsiders digging in (something I picked up from the pet bunnies digging out)

Jan

[Roughlee Handled]

As long as its not creosote and is water based it should be OK. But paint inside as well as out and fill in all the cracks on the inside I used painters chalk. Oh and you should have removable perches.  You could dig the weld mesh down by six inches if you did not want to have it as a skirt. 
Minimum 1 meter squared per chook but better with 2 or even 3 if you can.  A roof of clear plastic corrugate will help stop the mud bath. 
Try this link.
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=32947.0

[Janschooks]

Thanks

The coop is bought and is 3ft x 3ft.
The run will be just over 2m on each side making 5.7m squared. At the moment I'm only looking to start with 2 or 3 chooks. If everything goes well I will be looking to expand the run and adding another house.
I'm also looking for some wood to put a perch or 2 in the run, I think it needs to be 3' diameter? The run will be 6ft high.
I've just bought some tarpaulin to cover the top for shade and to keep the rain out of the run. Will have to search painter chalk. The house arrives tomorrow so will be spending this next week putting the run up etc. ready for the girls.
Jan

[Roughlee Handled]

For the perch use 3 by 2 inch with the edges rounded off. The perch on the wide bit.

Cerafix Trade Decorators Chalk 571871 Brown 310ml £1.48 from B&Q
Its to stop red mite hiding in the cracks.

[Janschooks]

Hi
Thanks for the quick reply. I will put this on my ever expanding list of must haves 

[lottienewbie]

hi ya, i posted a similar question but did not get much response,so it would appear to bit a hard question to answer,but i have now dug out my chook run to a depth of about 4 inches and then filled this area with Hemcore, which so far is working out just fine,i have also put a cover on the run,but the chooks love scratching around in it,and it will compost down naturally.this should only need changing every 2-3 months.


hope this helps you out.


lottienewbie

[Hensington]

You would be better off getting 2x1 tanalised batten for the run timber. If not then I reccomend Creosote but you need to take the relavent precautions when using it.

[Foxy]

I use a deep layer of soft wood chips (about 3") with a thin layer about 1" I think layer of bark on top to make it all soft, and easier to compost. I then scrape of in  early spring and use to feed the apple trees and borders, and it works really well as a weed supressant too!

[wighty]

If you go in a hardware store you will get a more 'polite' reaction if you ask for Decorators Caulk, or painter's mate.

[Janschooks]

Hi and thank you all for the responses.

Lottie I could only find hemcore bales for horses stables, is this what you use?
Foxy, I couldn't find anything online for soft wood chips?
I like the idea of recycling into compost, I've just started growing fruit and veg in pots this year and will be doing lots more next year.

I live in a very rural area so depend on online shopping most of the time, the nearest big shop or store is an hours drive away.

Jan

[Foxy]

soft wood chips are available from forestry stores,timber merchants and B&Q. I buy mine in bulk from a local timber merchant once or twice a year normally.