Dangri Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 hi all, I'm not too sure if my girls are bored or not, but they seem to be digging to Australia at the moment!! My OH reckons only to get concerned if we see a Koala's head popping up through the hole, but they're digging so much that I'm concerned it's going to compromise their safety, as they've dug so deep in the run! I've figured out that they seem to do it just under their Grub and Glug dishes as they tend to s"Ooops, word censored!" their feet whilst their heads are deep in the Grub or the Glug. We've tried moving the Grub about, but now I'm just left with deep holes all over the place. My OH has even put some mesh on the bottom of the run to try and stop them! They do get time to free range (but it's limited FR space, as I can't cope with putting the washing up on the line and stepping in their poo!) when I'm at home, which is pretty much 3-4 days a week, and they love mucking about in the dirt and eating into my blackberry bush (little tikes!), but I just don't know how to stop them digging whilst I'm not at home ( Any ideas anyone please? Dxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennydavies Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 How deep are yours digging ? ours dug themselves out a nice dustbath about six inches deep. I wouldn't worry - they just enjoy doing what chickens do to amuse themselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken bark Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Mine have dug some pretty deep dustbaths. You could try making your own dustbath and putting that in the run to see if they will use it. You'll probably find they will keep doing what comes naturally though and dig their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crankycookie Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Wow, the mesh doesn't even stop them? Those are some determined chooks! If you have a place you can settle the eglu permanently, perhaps you could put down some concrete tiles and then cover that with a thick layer of bark and put the eglu and run on top of all that, so they have lots to dig through but are limited as to how deep they can get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 mine did the same in a couple of places in they're run it turned out to be were they found old bulbs and roots from the fower border that I built the run on at one point they got down best part of a foot so I've had to slab that part of the run to stop them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabel Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Mine have gone mad digging in their f/r area this past few days .... mine is the garden with those big surgical dog collars (you know the ones dogs/cats wear following surgery?) around the fruit trees!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomeena Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 We have one digger and one lay in the hole and walloer. I just fill the holes each night after they have gone to bed. Bless them they enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Our black rock is a furious digger! THe others let her get on with it and then, when she's finally worn herself out, they all jump in for a communcal dustbath! Some girls ( in particular it seems) just love DIGGING! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertrum Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Ours like to dig particularly under the Glug and Grub also. They have really deep holes everywhere in the run that I fill in each night, but they always make them under the feeders first thing each morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes55 Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 That's funny when you say they seem to be digging to Australia as that is exactly what I keep saying ours are doing. Mine love digging in their run too and I'm surprised they haven't dug themselves out yet. They also love to dig just where the lawn meets the borders and also by the fences. I also have 1 that just lays in the hole and just looks really cute. I think concrete slabs for part of the run is the only way to go when they are digging so deep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smudge Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Our girls are also great diggers - their run is wood/bark chips on an area of soil that used to be a flowerbed, and despite a quite deep layer of chips they still like to get well down into the soil. We find they tend to fill the holes in themselves and then start digging somewhere else, so if it keeps them happy.... Actually that leads me to the one small gripe I have about the run/Egglu set up - when there's bits on the sill of the Egglu door (which happens quite often due to their digging activities!), the door won't shut properly. With the run entrance at the other end and disassembly required to remove that section of the run roof as it's attached into the Egglu, it's really difficult to get in and clear it out. It would be really helpful to have two run entrances, one close to the Egglu and then one at the other end. It would also mean less restriction on where their Glugs/Grubs go as at the moment they have to be within my short arms reach of the entrance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertrum Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Actually that leads me to the one small gripe I have about the run/Egglu set up - when there's bits on the sill of the Egglu door (which happens quite often due to their digging activities!), the door won't shut properly. With the run entrance at the other end and disassembly required to remove that section of the run roof as it's attached into the Egglu, it's really difficult to get in and clear it out. I agree, this is a big draw back for me. I think, since the Eglu is designed to be moved about on grass, this isn't a problem for those who use it as designed (one can always lift up the run and reach under to brush anything off). It only becomes an issue when the standard run is used in a set up that is static. If I were to lift up my run, it would make a terrible mess. I'm thinking of either making a new door in the side of my run, or getting a brush with a very long handle, or building a new bigger run of my own. The brush is probably the least risky and least expensive of those, so perhaps that is the first thing to try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Mine dig holes in their run. Coco dug a hole so deep the other day I could just see her head sticking out, but she was happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Mine have some pretty impressive dens that they have dug themselves around the garden. They use them for siesta time. They also sometime club together with Kevin our tortoise, digging a hole so that he can escape and go walkabout down the road Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Clucks-minusOne Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Our black rock is a furious digger! THe others let her get on with it and then, when she's finally worn herself out, they all jump in for a communcal dustbath! Some girls ( in particular it seems) just love DIGGING! Our new Blackrock is nicknamed Digger as she is happiest when digging craters in the pen. We have the eglu run on 1ft of bark chippings so the digging is easy for her. But I do worry when she excavates near the logs/tree stumps in case she is hit by them falling in her holes. She had competion during the night though.....a MOLE! It decided that the pen area was worth a lookfor worms (fat chance with Digger about). Yesterday it tunneled under the back of the eglu house probably had more luck there as its the only place she hasn't dug but she has dug a crater in front of the sleeper the eglu front rests on. The other two will soon need a ladder to get into the house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dangri Posted July 29, 2010 Author Share Posted July 29, 2010 the question is though... does all this digging compromise their safetly from the Fabulous Mr Fox? ? I'm sure the girls are trying to find a way out, but I think Mr Fox might find his way in before they've achieved any sort of success (becuase despite what non chicken lovers think... Chickens do plot, they do scheme and they are clever!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes55 Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Our girls are also great diggers - their run is wood/bark chips on an area of soil that used to be a flowerbed, and despite a quite deep layer of chips they still like to get well down into the soil. We find they tend to fill the holes in themselves and then start digging somewhere else, so if it keeps them happy.... Actually that leads me to the one small gripe I have about the run/Egglu set up - when there's bits on the sill of the Egglu door (which happens quite often due to their digging activities!), the door won't shut properly. With the run entrance at the other end and disassembly required to remove that section of the run roof as it's attached into the Egglu, it's really difficult to get in and clear it out. It would be really helpful to have two run entrances, one close to the Egglu and then one at the other end. It would also mean less restriction on where their Glugs/Grubs go as at the moment they have to be within my short arms reach of the entrance. Oh yeah we had that all the time, totally unable to shut the door as it was blocked with soil and woodchips. We've now got a couple of rows of slabs in front of the Eglu and although it hasn't totally stopped stuff being scratched towards the door it's nowhere as bad as it used to be. I do agree the run should have a door at the other end too as it's so hard to clean out the run with just that tiny door at the far end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElvisFan Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 I am glad I have found this post - mine do exactly the same thing, I have been saying that we will need to buy them little miners helmets if they get much deeper ! The concerning thing is that they have also managed to start and dig under the sides of the run and when I went out this morning they had actually manged to break through to the other side so there was effectively a tunnel to the outside world, that I'm not bothered about - its the something getting in that worries me and we all know who that might be. We did have bark in our run but it all seems to have disappeared and there is now just the soil underneath which they love scratching, digging and bathing in but I am worried about this new tunnel business, makes me wonder if they are walking round the garden when they are FRing and whistling the great escape in their heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes55 Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 I am glad I have found this post - mine do exactly the same thing, I have been saying that we will need to buy them little miners helmets if they get much deeper ! The concerning thing is that they have also managed to start and dig under the sides of the run and when I went out this morning they had actually manged to break through to the other side so there was effectively a tunnel to the outside world, that I'm not bothered about - its the something getting in that worries me and we all know who that might be. We did have bark in our run but it all seems to have disappeared and there is now just the soil underneath which they love scratching, digging and bathing in but I am worried about this new tunnel business, makes me wonder if they are walking round the garden when they are FRing and whistling the great escape in their heads. We go around our garden a lot and just check by the fences to make they haven't made a tunnel out You might want to put some slabs either on the outside of your run or the inside to stop them tunnelling like that, like you say it's not that they could get out, but who could now get in Bark chippings don't last long as they compost down quite quickly. You would be better off with woodchips. Some people on here get them for free from various places but we just bought a few bags from B&Q which were about £5 a bag I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 Ours love digging, particularly Blodwyn the Pepperpot. But they have dug holes over 18 inches deep - so deep you can barely see the chicken in there! The WIR now has fully slabbed base, but there is a lot of Bliss/Hemcore bedding and they seem quite happy just chucking that about all over the place. I pick the poo every few days and otherwise change it every 3 to 6 weeks and it seems to stop the frantic burrowing. They get to dig when they are FR anyway although prefer the garden tubs that I have set up as dust baths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
