AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Can chickens live happily on a wired floor elevated off the ground 60cm I had problems with mice so all the cages are now off the ground

Mine do I have the run with all wire floor and they seem happy the sleeping house has a hard floor though

my dream would be to have wire flooring but to have the sheds up 7ft off the ground so I could just drive the bobcat in once a year to scoop out all the poop etc

day dreaming day dreaming day dreaming = no not practical = back to the shovelling of the shite


(and yes birds can live happily enough on wire so long as they get time to dust bathe each day and remember to check their feet regularly for sores or calluses caused by the wire = this can happen)

How do they dust bath on wire? Do you have a container of sand for them to use

I dont worry about it but I do dust them with lice powder ever month

What brand of powder do you use?

Hi, chooks need to have access to dust bathing.

Here is the thread to The Five Freedoms Of Chickens. Dust bathing is a Freedom to Express Normal Behaviour: Sufficient space and company of the animal's own kind, perhaps, a cat litter box filled with dirt on a wire floor would aid the chook to dust bath on a more regular basis more than once a month. I use Pestene powder in areas that my chooks dust bath in when free ranging; they are free to express themselves in "Normal Behaviour" as they free range daily.

How would anyone feel have a bath or shower once a month?

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13302&hilit=five+freedoms+of+chickens

Remember chooks have feelings and needs too!!!

I have to agree you should allow them to free range for a period every day even if its just for 2 hours they will be healthier for that time out and grooming is very important for their health

Mine are fine they are healthy and happy

I think what others are trying to say is that there are problems that can occur, one of them being bumblefoot where the bottom of the foot gets a lump from walking constantly on the wire, the lump can then become inflamed and infected and thus render the chook lame or worse. While dust bathing is not something all chooks choose to do it is a widely accepted and rather expected behaviour and while not necessary it is beneficial if we think of chooks as "beings" with ideas and wants rather than just needs.

You could offer a cat litter tray full of sand in the run to which you could add a certain amount of dusting powder some find that their chooks like dirt to bathe in.

Free ranging allows the chook to forage for themselves a healthy beneficial activity which can prevent things such as feather plucking of themselves or their mates in the cage.

You may never have any of these problems, but once established these two problems are quite difficult to change/fix.

I think what others are trying to point out is that a balance is helpful in an enclosure of any kind walking naturally on dirt or grass is something a chicken was born to do even if they can't do it all the time because of predators, time constraints etc.