flooring of run

[jennybain]

Hi - I would like some advice on what to use for the flooring of my chicken run. It measures approx 5ftx10ft and i have 3 birds in it. It is movable and at the moment I have it on the lawn and have been moving it every couple of days.

The lawn has been getting scratched up but the addition of a dust bath has limited this to a point. It is ok to keep moving the run around or would it be better to base it at the back of the garden where it is weedy and poor soil?

[Hilary B]

If you are keeping them in a moveable run, then moving it is rather the object of the exercise isn't it? I would keep moving it around, but mainly on areas which could do with disturbing and manuring. It sounds big to move often......

[Kristen]

We move ours about once a week. By then the grass is fairly bare, but they are allowed to roam free during the day. Its in an area of rough-ish grass, and in the shade of trees etc.

Farmers around here with fixed coups, with large-ish fox-proof runs, are bare earth (I have also seen them with two "rooms" so that one grows some stuff whilst the other is being scratched to the bed-rock)