Coop Run flooring suggestions

[mowin]

I am a very amature smoker, i started with an electric maybe I will graduate and work my way up to wood someday

Started the same way. It's a fun hobby.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Lol.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I do have a roof over half of the run.

Cover the entire run. You can use clear plastic corrugated roofing so sunlight shines in but keeps the rain out. I would also recommend using a tarp as an awning on which ever side the rain is most likely to blow in.

 

[mowin]

My run is half covered... I like it so far. Gals seem to also. They like the open side better. Curious to see how they do during the hot summer months.

 

[southern chooks]

I used a layer of sand for drainage and then wood chips from the free city pile. I try and get the more decomposed sections. I don’t have to clean it and there is no smell of drainage issues! I have a fully covered open-air coop

 

[Birdsong 82]

Oh. I’ve heard great things about sand I go deep litter. Va is a whole different beast than Florida though

 

[Aunt Angus]

We just had the wettest winter in over a decade (I think) here in Northern California. Still nothing like you get in FL, and it's very dry here the rest of the year.

My 113 sq ft run is covered except for a few feet. I use a version of deep litter - more like deep bedding, really. I started with dirt, threw in sand, leaves raked up in the yard, grass clippings, mulch, basically anything "organic." When it got mucky, I went to the store and bought hemp bedding. I really liked that over the other stuff. Not much dust, softer than shavings, more absorbant, too. I started using it in my coop now, too.

I would like to try sand, but the thought of dredging out what's accumulated and having to get all that sand in there makes me cringe. The sand would be cool in the shady parts of my run, and that would be good for when it gets hot this summer (100°+). I could wet it down for the chickens to lay/bathe in. I think they'd like that a lot.

I don't know that any of what I just wrote helps, but that's my 2 cents. Hopefully, some BYCers who live in wet, humid climates will comment.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I like sand personally. It is easy to keep clean and dries out really fast. I would suggest you put roofing on your run if you don’t have that already and if you are having a drainage problem maybe install French drain‘s around the run. My run has plastic paneling over the top and my yard slopes downward, but I have not had a problem with the inside getting wet unless the wind is really blowing and blowing the rain inside the run.

 

[Kate Shaw]

In the north, a lot of municipalities have huge free piles of wood chips from chipping curbside branches and old Christmas trees. I get a pickup truck load and spread the chips about 4+ inches thick. You rake them weekly or whatever is necessary to mix the droppings into the chips. Everything will decompose.
I think the sand will wash away in a run without a roof and it will eventually work it's way down into the soil. The wood will decompose but it will take a while. And up here, adding more wood chips is, again, free.
Being that you are in FL and your run is staying wet 1/2 the year you will not get rid of the smell. If there is any way to put a solid roof over your small run, that would help greatly with managing your run.

We are getting our coop and run set up now and this is exactly what we were thinking of doing! Glad to hear that it works for someone else!

 

[TropicalBabies]

I'm a mulch person and it works great here. County contracted tree trimmers are usually happy to drop off or give away. Less for them to haul and dispose of. I use it in most of my run and all of my coop. I just toss on more when I think it needs. I also toss our leaves in and any organic matter. Gives chickens entertainment and helps with any smells. Can always rake and compost any time.

 

[blackdog043]

Do you have a picture of your run, is it a walk in run?

I would use tree trimming chips. If you can't get those, use untreated mulch. You can also add yard and garden waste, pieces of tree branches (thick and thin) dried leaves. Think of a nice mulched flower bed, where the water drains down into the ground, through the mulch. The poop will filter down through the chips and break down. As long as your run drains fine and doesn't have standing water, this will work well for you. Others on here use deep or semi deep litter and don't have covered runs and it works well for them and doesn't smell. If it would start to give off odors, that's an indication that more stuff should be added to your run.

My run is covered, but here is a picture after I just added yard and garden waste in the fall.