Dirt floor vs. raised wooden floor coop construction

[dandefrancis]

We are in the process of designing and building a new coop for our flock of 20 birds. I see some coops that are raised off the ground with a wooden floor and some that have no other floor inside but the dirt itself and are built directly on the ground with only the four walls and the roof of course.

I will be using the deep litter method with pine shavings and would like to hear some comments and thoughts from others who have built a coop.

We live in West Virginia and the soil is mostly clay.

Any help and design ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Lizard Lady]

This is a great question! I'm interested in extending my coop and am planning on adding quite a few more birds. I've wondered about this myself. The main thing I guess I'm curious about is whether there is a higher risk of any form of diseases (my area got hit with Parvo and other animal diseases this past summer), would it be more dangerous in regards to predators, and is there a risk of high humidity. Look forward to others' answers.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i think the deep litter method would only work for the dirt floor, it would rot the wood. in wooden floors a lot of people use linoleum just laid in there so clean up is easy. i have clay dirt as well and i have wood in the coop and deep litter in the run. the run floods sometimes but i need to get it higher still. the wood is a little hard to clean. i use a snow shovel and water hose. my choice is deep litter , as long as its deep enough

 

[dandefrancis]

Thanks for your additional questions, very good

 

[dandefrancis]

If one uses linoleum is there a higher risk of mites 'nesting' between the wood and linoleum and would you have to replace the linoleum occasionally?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i have never used it but i imagine it would have to be replaced over time. as far as mites, they hide in the cracks of wood, just about anywhere im sure they would find under straw just as an inviting place to be

 

[JackE]

My coop is built with a raised wooden floor. It is built on slope, just over a foot off the ground at the low side. A foot and a half on the high side. Building the raised coop was a lot easier than leveling off a big chunk of ground. Another reason it is raised, I can easily see what is going on under the coop. Rats, mice and other pest like to set up housekeeping in hidden secure places. And a coop with a wood floor built sitting directly on the ground perfectly provides that.
I use pine shavings, and I totally clean out the coop twice a year. In between those cleanings I add fresh shavings as needed. The shavings can get kind of deep in there between cleanings. So to protect the plywood floor, I use a rubberized roof coat product from Lowes(Blackjack #57) This stuff, unlike vinyl or linoleum, becomes part of the floor, protecting it from everything. Nothing gets under it. It seals the gap where the walls meet the floor. This stuff has been down in my coop going on 4yrs, and it looks as good as the day I put in down. IMO, it is the BEST wood floor protector for a coop.

 

[Lizard Lady]

If one uses linoleum is there a higher risk of mites 'nesting' between the wood and linoleum and would you have to replace the linoleum occasionally?

And what about straw? Can you still layer straw in there during the winter?

 

[yogifink]

Quote:
I wouldn't use any straw unless you already have it or it's free. Pine shavings are a much better alternative for just about the same cost.

 

[Lizard Lady]

I wouldn't use any straw unless you already have it or it's free. Pine shavings are a much better alternative for just about the same cost.

I've heard other people say they used pine shavings. What are the benefits of pine shavings over straw? There's a Bucheit's that opened recently and they have so much more in the farm and feed area than my local feed store (I still patronize my feed store, though. I love those guys!). They had a whole aisle of bedding for fowl but I wasn't sure if there was a better one over others.