Flooring in walk-in runs

[Donna Clark]

My hens are currently in a sizeable run fenced with Omlet's flexible plastic fencing. Unfortunately, my dogs easily break in - allowing the hens to escape. We've decided to buy a walk-in run to overcome this. I notice in some images that some owners have placed chicken wire or similar on the ground, sometimes covered with a substrate such as sand. My hens are relentless diggers and their current run is like a minefield, and when they escape they immediately start turning over the fresh grass. As it's natural behaviour, I'm interested to hear whether you think using wire to minimise digging damage could be cruel, or might even be harmful if they were to catch a claw. If you have some kind of wire in place, what substrate do you use on top of it? I was thinking sand, but there may be better options. Thanks.