Chickens can stand on chicken wire. However, there is a chance that it will begin to hurt their feet over time.
The next thing we wanted the answer to was; can Chickens walk on Wire flooring?
I learned but adult birds are relatively heavy, and wire is hard on their feet. In addition, wire flooring doesn’t allow for the natural wear on their nails, so they can overgrow and make it difficult for your chickens to walk.
The next thing we asked ourselves was: can chickens get their toes stuck in wire?
Our answer was some chicken keepers have even reported that their chickens have gotten their toes stuck in the wire and have broken their toe bones trying to get away . If you have a chicken get a toe or foot stuck in your wire floor, she may panic and injure her legs as well.
Just use good bedding like pine shavings in the coop on a solid floor. Is all wire bad? In fact, some coops will be designed with wire mesh under the roost as a bonus feature. That can work well, because chickens aren’t walking around on the wire ; they’re sitting on a roost above the wire.
Do chickens walk?
If you watch a chicken walking, they don’t walk as we do. As we put each foot forward, we clearly bend at the knee to bring the other leg forward. If you watch a chicken, each foot moves forward and the joint that is around halfway up their leg – as far as we can see – actually bends backward.
Birds, and even today’s best backyard chickens, exhibit a modified posture, body shape and walking style. Most of these differences have to do with the fact that the balance of their bodies are different from their ancestors, mainly because birds don’t have long fleshy tails to weigh their backsides down.
While we were writing we ran into the inquiry “Should I walk my chickens through the laying house?”.
Producers should not walk through the house at peak laying time or the hens are likely to lay more eggs on the floor. By walking through the laying house, producers expose the chickens to low levels of stress, which the chickens get habituated to.
Some have found that they have also been through the woods to visit the neighbour (the kids next door give them treats, bread and cereal) and that is probably 500 or more feet. I know its a measure of area not distance, but mine have wondered over the 6+ acres that is cleared and then some, so they definately will wonder more than 250 feet from coop.
When is the best time of day to walk the chickens?
Producers should walk through the laying house a couple of times per day, selecting times that fit into the flock’s egg-laying cycle, such as in the early morning before the majority of the hens have started laying and later after laying time has ended.
Why do chickens poop in the coop?
In fact, some coops will be designed with wire mesh under the roost as a bonus feature. That can work well, because chickens aren’t walking around on the wire; they’re sitting on a roost above the wire. That’s where most of the poo will occur, because chickens spend so much time gathered in.