It's tough to tell from this picture(because I am the suck photographer), but there are parts of this pit that are 4-5 inches below grade...and it's not the only one. There are another three or four places along the fence of their 'run' where they are close to digging out, and I have had to add supplemental fencing(my folded up tomato cages, which drive down into the ground) to keep the chickens where they belong.
The real thing to keep an eye on is the part of their run where it borders my neighbors yard...it's an adventure when they end of up loose in my yard...I just don't look forward to the day I need to go retrieve them from someone else's yard.
Dig below grade about 12".
ReplyDeletePut 1/2" Hardware cloth at bottom of chicken wire (With 6" overlap- better yet use all hardware cloth- I hate chicken wire, myself) .
Line bottom of coop with hardware cloth at least 12" in perimeter
Place pavers, landscape blocks, or durock over cloth lining the entire coop
Replace dirt.
Chickens can dig all they want, you just go back and fill in the holes. Also, durock over hardware cloth makes it so they can't injure their feet on the wire, and it will abrade down their toenails.