Coop Floor- Sand or Deep Litter?

[ChookAtThis]

Hi everyone! I've been lurking around and learning SO much from all you wonderful experienced and friendly folks! Thank you!

I just got my first chicks today and have 25 beautiful little ones running around the brooder. I've been working on plans for the coop but the last piece of the puzzle that I just can't decide on is whether to do a sand floor or a deep litter floor.

The coop is being built into 2 stalls of a preexisting horse barn which has dirt floors and a fair slope to it. My idea was to built a perimeter structure (like the base of a sandbox) and fill it to level grade with the coop components being built on top of that. If I do DL, I would probably fill the base with gravel and then start the litter on top of that. If I did sand, I would just fill the base with sand until a level grade- possible 4" deep at one end and 10" deep at the other.

I've been going back and forth on which one to do and I would love to hear ideas about what people have tried. Thanks in advance and have a wonderful chooky day!


P.S. A friend told me rodents and predators can dig through the sand but if I put litter over a base of gravel they can't dig through that.

 

[Michael OShay]

Hi everyone! I've been lurking around and learning SO much from all you wonderful experienced and friendly folks! Thank you!

I just got my first chicks today and have 25 beautiful little ones running around the brooder. I've been working on plans for the coop but the last piece of the puzzle that I just can't decide on is whether to do a sand floor or a deep litter floor.

The coop is being built into 2 stalls of a preexisting horse barn which has dirt floors and a fair slope to it. My idea was to built a perimeter structure (like the base of a sandbox) and fill it to level grade with the coop components being built on top of that. If I do DL, I would probably fill the base with gravel and then start the litter on top of that. If I did sand, I would just fill the base with sand until a level grade- possible 4" deep at one end and 10" deep at the other.

I've been going back and forth on which one to do and I would love to hear ideas about what people have tried. Thanks in advance and have a wonderful chooky day!


P.S. A friend told me rodents and predators can dig through the sand but if I put litter over a base of gravel they can't dig through that.

Let me respond to the P.S. first. Determined predators can dig through almost anything except hardware cloth and concrete. I would cover the coop floor with a layer of 1/2 " hardware cloth and then put a layer of pea gravel over the top of the hardware cloth.
Litter will work fine on top of the pea gravel, but do not use fine sand like playground sand or beach sand as it can sometimes impact a chicken's crop. If you do decide to go with sand, use a coarse river sand with varying sized pebbles in it.

 

[ChookAtThis]

Hi Michael,

Thanks so much for responding! I really like the HC topped with gravel idea. Do you have a recommendation between DL or river sand? Or something else entirely? What have you used? Thanks again!

Rabyn

 

[Michael OShay]

I personally would not use sand at all, but if you decide to use the river sand. I use pine wood shavings until the chicks feather out, but then I just leave the bare pea gravel for the older chickens. It is easy to hose down and clean and does not leave a soggy mess when it gets wet.

 

[milola]

There are so many different ideas on this forum. But here is my opinion for what it is worth. If the stall area stays dry I would leave the dirt floor and use the deep litter method. I would concentrate on making the outside as predator proof as possible. I have found that with the deep litter method there is no foul odor and twice a year I clean most of it out and use it in my compost. When I do this I never see any but the freshest laid poops so it obviously totally disintegrates.

 

[petrel]

I use pine shavings, but I don't do deep litter. I think I made it almost a month once before the urge to clean out the coop overcame me. Our coop is small, so it is nothing to strip it bare every few weeks.

I'd recommend a wire floor as well.

 

[ChookAtThis]

Thanks so much guys! That is a bunch of really good ideas! I think we are going to start with sinking predator-proofing around the perimeter of the coop to ~12" and trying the deep litter on top of the dirt. If that doesn't work, we might transition to a sand or pea gravel floor. Thanks again and have a wonderful day!

Rabyn

 

[aart]

Rodent proofing with 1/2" hardware cloth is a good idea.

I use a poop board to catch most the poops, sift them out to go to compost, and pine shavings dry out the rest easily for twice a year muck out....but I have a vynil covered wood floor.

If I had a dirt floor I'd try the deep litter.

 

[Alex41]

Litter will work fine on top of the pea gravel, but do not use fine sand like playground sand or beach sand as it can sometimes impact a chicken's crop.  If you do decide to go with sand, use a coarse river sand with varying sized pebbles in it.

Michael,

I have to ask where you learned that fine sand could impact a chickens crop? I wouldn't consider playground sand to be fine, it's much like cement sand. I haven't seen rough sand around for sale unless it's mixed with gravel?

Any further explanation on this would be appreciated,

Thanks,
Alex

 

[Michael OShay]

I know personally of a couple of cases where it actually occurred. Also, I have read several articles on the subject. An internet example can be found at http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2013/07/the-real-scoop-on-using-sand-in-your.html