Peter Poultry Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Hello, my first post here. We have 3 bantams in an eglu and have just had an offer accepted on a new house, only problem being the garden. the garden has a large area of mature plants surrounding a large bit of decking no grass. currently our chickens and their eglu is on top of soil/ grass with a thick layer of chipped bark. wondered if anyone had any advice on what to do in terms of surface, my initial thoughts are to put a thick membrane on top of the decking beneath the eglu with chipped bark again (thicker layer), but would this be a problem? are there any other options I could consider. thanks in advance p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve. Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 I would have thought that the decking would go rotten if it was covered in anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Although decking is chemically treated to prevent rot-it needs to be able to dry out and it wont be able to if covered.You may want to consider another location for the chooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toastedblue Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 my walk in run is on a spare bit of decking I recycled after ripping the rest of it up, and what a mistake that was... it's a nghtmare to clean, the poop loves the grooves, and when it rains it stays wet for days as soon as the summer (ha!) is over, and I find the time, I'll be putting a concrete base down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yolky Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 could you slab the decking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Poultry Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 could you slab the decking? yeah, theres nothing to stop me putting any other surface on top of th edecking. my concerns are the same as mentioned above really- rot. Moisture would get trapped between the decking and any plastic membrane i would put down, slabs maybe an idea. or maybe i should consider removing some of the plants in the flower beds and putting the run there, problem solved i guess, but need to take some measurements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Poultry Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 by the way, Im more concerned about the chickens rather than the decking, just wondered if plastic membrane under bark is ok for them, cant see any reason why- maybe this would be a breeding ground for pests- moisturre + bark cipping, chicken poo= eurgh. talking myself out of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 I'm not sure it is a good idea. It would prevent natural absorption into the ground of yukkable substances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
