4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[grasshopper30]

Can you use the floor wire from the rabbit Eglu with chickens? I'd leave a gap for them to dust bathe when they are on their run area". Its just I'd like to move them round the lawn but usually they dig a huge hole, Euro Tunnel would be proud of thier efforts The wife went nuts when she saw the hole the other day as we had potential renters round to look at the house!

[Egluntyne]

I would worry about them injuring their feet when scratching, which is their normal behaviour and it would be a shame to prevent them from doing it.

 

Why not put paving slabs down and then you can top it with Aubiose or similar.

 

They can then scratch without making craters.

[grasshopper30]

They have a bark chip area at the moment but for a bit of "enviromental enrichment" we'd wanted them to be able to eat grass for a few hours and any bugs they find on the lawn but without them digging a hole which they seem to do within minutes! We don't want to prevent them from exhibiting natural behavior, far from it, we strive to enrich their lives with a varity of foods, items to peck at and items such as mirrors for them to look at.

[The Dogmother]

David, I see what Egluntine means; chickens have a habit of catching their toes on things like mesh. I know because one of mine did it once and tore her back toe off.

 

I can see what you're getting at, and your enrichment of their environment sounds commendable, but I wouldn't put them on mesh - suspended mesh like in battery cages isn't a problem (the mesh not the cages!) as they grab onto it, but I can see them getting their toes caught between the ground and the mesh. Believe me, a ripped off toe isn't nice!

 

It's your call, and this is just my advice.

[Egluntyne]

I did say in my first sentence that I would be concerned about them injuring their feet.

 

There have been a few posts of late where people have had hens rip their "toe nails" off accidentally....and when this happens, believe me, they bleed like mad.

 

All advice on the forum is given freely and with the best of intentions by hen keepers with different levels of experience and expertise.

 

As Claret says...it is entirely up to you as to whether you take it or not.

[grasshopper30]

Well if it not safe then its not safe. I certainly not going to do something that would risk my animals welfare.

 

My point about them having an area to scratch was that they would do it here rather than over the wire. In the book "The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers" by John Seymour he describes a method, the name of which escapes me, by which you have your poultry on grass but put provide an area of scratchable material ie bark, straw etc. The idea being they scratch around in that and don't destroy the grass.

 

On the risk vs reward scale the risk of injury to the bird far out weighs any potential reward and I think we would be better keeping to our current system of "supervised" outings in the garden.

 

Thanks for your input.

[The Dogmother]

I'm afraid that chickens (contrary critters that they are) will scratch where they want, rather than where you'd like them to.

 

Your idea sounds good in theory, but I'm afraid that they will carry out construction projects where they see fit My borders are testament to that, despite them having a dustbathing bowl.

[TAJ]

I see what you are getting at, but there are other solutions - my eglu is curently on grass, if they were just on the grass for days on end they would eat all the bugs and bits they could easily find and would start to stratch up the grass to find more and have a dust bath. So I use Omlet netting and when they are out they have plenty of grass AND an empty flower bed of soil - so they eat grass, but do their scratching in the soil only - they have not dug a hole in the grass since they have had an alternative area.

 

I think they would be better without wire underneath them & there are simple ways to give them access the grass daily by using Omlet netting.

 

Tracy

[grasshopper30]

Ah the netting sounds like a good idea.

 

I know what your saying about chickens doing what they want regardless of what we want. We have had them for about a year now and they don't seem to conform to any but their own ideas!

 

I can't wait untill we get our smallholding in Wales then they can dig where ever they like !

[The Dogmother]

I can't wait untill we get our smallholding in Wales then they can dig where ever they like !

 

Ahhh, but it will still be precisely where you DON'T want them to dig