What to do with this nasty floor?!

MESOFRUFFEH said:

How funny!! The back side of mine was actually parts of shelving from like a lumber department or something, very sturdy beams that just kinda fit together like a refrigerator rack does. My dad got them from one of his buddies that collects junk lol. The rest of it was just old lumber I think we had laying around. I do believe a bit of scrubbing and a coat of paint is in order...as well as maybe some trim around the windows. Sounds like I have a spring project!! I doubt it will get done before winter!

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MESOFRUFFEH said:

First of all... I really envy all of you with super cute coops. Mine was made from 99% free materials and literally cost me next to nothing and kinda thrown together over a weekend. When we built this, I had never even seen a coop as fancy as some of the ones yall have. We have always more or less had chicken coops made of tin with a door and dirt floor and they have always served their purpose just fine.

This coop had been vacant for years and critters had burrowed under the floor and it was really uneven and had a lot of holes in it. When we got the new chicks moved in, i spread out a bale of hay over the floor, then covered it in large pine shavings as it was very wet & rainy outside and the water was flowing under the walls and soaking the floor. The straw and shavings successfully formed a barrier between my chicks and the water, but now i just have a big gross dusty mess.

I have a bunch of pallets leftover from when I bought sod for my yard (they kinda suck, not quality pallets like I usually see), and I thought about recycling them in some way to use as a floor in the coop, but not sure what exactly to do in there. Not really sure that I can afford to spend a lot of money on it right now, but I would like to spruce the coop up some and make it look nicer. I am concerned about snakes as we live very close to a creek, so I'm also having to consider that in my planning. Earlier this year I and my son literally walked 6 inches from where a water moccasin was sitting right outside the gate to the yard, I do not want to invite them into the coop with cozy hiding places! Does anyone have any ideas??

Here is the best pic I currently have of the floor, I can take better ones later if need be. As you can see, its just kinda gross, a big dusty, dirty mess. I know chickens dont care but seriously.... being on this forum is gonna get me in so much trouble lol, I'm always seeing things I really want to do with the coop to make it look cuter! I also am aware that all that crud can hold onto all sorts of unsavory little bugs and critters and germs, so something that would be easier to clean would be awesome. Should i just scrape out the junk that is in there now? I don't even know where to begin!!

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MESOFRUFFEH said:

Well, since its going to be a while before we get any real rain to speak of, and since there really is only one spot that seems to be the flooding culprit I went ahead and put some straw and also a bunch of grass clippings on the coop floor yesterday. Looks so much better and my feet aren't a ridiculously dusty mess when I go in there now! I got some shavings for the floor too but I figured I would add them later. The ladies were super excited about their new floor last night and immediately took to rearranging it lol. I even gave the babies some straw which I think they appreciated.


Heres my haul from yesterday, straw, shavings, and some grass clippings.

^^^This is my hole, this was pretty much the only place where water is coming into the coop. I am going to try to get some dirt and bricks and cover it, maybe a little bit of concrete too just for good measure.

Here is the back side of the coop. The hole in the previous pic is at the corner closest to the camera. not much room for a drainage ditch to be dug, these railroad ties were more to keep the pig that was in this pen previously from rooting the bottom part of the wire up. I think they probably help divert some water, but the ones up the hill a little do a better job than these. Please excuse my trash, there was a big spider web back there and I didn't want to disturb him, but I don't do spiders, so the trash stays until the spider is gone lol.


tada, fresh floor!




Here are my sweet babies!! Just love the buff orpingtons, they are so sweet, the others are a little skittish. Really hoping those with the black and white spots are going to be mottled javas (probably not, but one can hope right?!)


Thanks for all the help everyone!! I am definitely gonna do the deep litter, hope I don't screw nothin' up!

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