Single hen

[MariaB]

Do you think chickens mind if there is a mesh bottom to their run? Want to put girls on to allotment but think I should have a secure mesh bottom to the run. Will this interfere with their scratching ability or will it hurt their feet? Thinking of their ultimate safety in all this as I dont want Mr Fox to tunnel under the run and eat them, or should I sink chicken wire in to the ground surrounding the run. At the moment at home they are on a concrete base with aubiose scattered and have some free range to part of the garden.

[Guest]

I'd be concerned that they'd hurt their feet while trying to scratch. Is it possible to put a skirt of wire around the outer edge of the run instead or some sort of perimeter; bricks, flags?

 

Or there's the option to dig down into the soil vertically with the mesh? Make a sort of moat/trench about a foot down then cover back up with spoil once the mesh is in place?

 

Ah, I see you've mentioned that already, yes sinking the mesh would be better, IMO.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm in the process of getting slabs laid for a path and for the walk in run to be laid on. I want them to have a square of earth to scratch about in inside the run so I plan to put chicken wire down under the slabs (flat) but also put some of that wavy lawn edging vertically down along the edges of the slabs inside the run (if that makes sense ). I'm hoping it will prevent diggage by visitors and also prevent the girls excavating under the slabs.

[Egluntyne]

I would advice against it as they are likely to catch their nails and injure themselves whilst scratching.

 

I would put the whole thing on paving slabs to avoid the tunnelling. You can move them about every so often if you wanted to re-arrange the allotment.

[MariaB]

Our run is 6ft x 12ft so thats a lot of slabs to be moving around. Think I may have to dig a trench and put wire in and then maybe to be on the safe side put slabs around the perimeter. Any one got any other solutions?

[Redwing]

I take on board the advice above and if you can do it any other way then do however I do have a mesh floor under my Eglu run covered by a very thick layer of woodchip and Aubiose (about 4-5 inches) the chickens don't have any problem with this and dig down as normal to the wire, the wire is sort of embedded in the ground so isnt sticking up for them to catch their feet in (when I laid it I watered it and stamped on it a lot!)

 

Like I say if you can do it any other way then do that!

[Guest]

Our run is 6ft x 12ft so thats a lot of slabs to be moving around. Think I may have to dig a trench and put wire in and then maybe to be on the safe side put slabs around the perimeter. Any one got any other solutions?

 

I think that's sufficient to be honest.