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!!
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!!