Flooring on a new Chicken Coop... Is chicken wire OK

[mxmarg]

Silly Chicken that looks really great! A bit spendy but we'll see...

We're building a chicken tractor. The bottom of our coop will be off the ground about a foot or two within the enclosed chicken run. I was thinking I'd make provisions for wintertime by adding a tray. The tractor would be parked next to our Wisconsin home and more or less enclosed (with ventilation). So we'd empty the tray when needed in those winter months, clean the grate floor and work the hay added to the ground during those months. And then in the warmer months hopefully most of the poop would fall through and onto the grass. And in a day or two the tractor would be moved along to the next place on the lawn.

Being a total newb, I'd sure appreciate what ever comments some of the experienced peeps have to say about this idea... Thank you Thank you Thank you!

 

[claudicles]

I'm just adding my voice to those commenting on the hassles of using a wire floor. I have a wire floor in one of my tractors and the poop just clogs it up like mad. The only way to get it clean is to turn the tractor over and hose it. I've got sugar cane mulch over it to help the clean up but that stops the birds getting through to the greens underneath so it isn't much good. It limits who I put in that tractor. I'll be very interested to see how that tile flooring works out.

 

[NCnarrator]

We're in the process of building a pallet coop (aka The Ugliest Chicken Coop In North Carolina), and we did use hardware cloth as the floor. Several of the hatcheries we went to used this material and recommended it for air flow in the muggy North Carolina heat. We were told a sturdy bristle brush over the hardware cloth every few days works much better than spraying it down (which makes it smell and gets things good and soggy). Watched a guy do it...looked nasty, but then again so is mucking out bedding I guess!

We didn't use chicken wire for the reasons others have stated regarding predators - we have possums and raccoons to worry about. We've done everything we can to make sure the run is predator proof, but those furry critters are wily. This is a picture of what we've done so far. Not quite finished yet, and as you can see there's LOTS of emphasis on ventilation.

 

[DadOfFour]

another option is 1"x1" poultry flooring.. it comes in tiles. though a tadd more expensive. I know someone who uses this for her turkeys (I will too) and when I was there the other day, there was no poop clogging the holes etc... Plus side is that it won't rust, too small for rodents to squeeze through, too tough for preditors to chew through!

http://www.growerssupply.com/farm/supplies/prod1;gs_greenhouse_benches_shelves;pgha2215.html

That looks suspiciously like the same dimensions of the grids on a couple plastic pallets I have in my basement. I'll try to get down there tomorrow and measure them. Maybe you could cut a couple of those pallets in half to create the floor?

 

[Beaner]

I've found two solutions to my flooring problem, since I'm using hardware cloth - one, I have a stiff-bristled cleaning brush from the hardware store that I use a couple times a week in the late afternoon/evening to brush the dried waste into a garbage can to add to composting, and two, if I know it's not going to rain over a couple of days, I will lay newspaper under the part of the roosting bar that my birds seem to prefer (where the droppings are concentrated), and every day throw away the soiled top layer. Of course, I only have four chickens, so this doesn't work for larger groups of birds.

 

[GreenAcresKS]

I wouldn't suggest it. Years ago, another "chicken lady" I knew had a setup with that, and her chickens broke their toes. If you had larger birds like turkeys, it would probably be okay, but if I were you, I'd do what's best for the chickens--use plywood, and just clean the coop out. (The only not-so-fun part about being a chicken owner!)

 

[Nosaj]

I am building a coop and I am considering laying 1/2 chicken wire across the floor instead of plywood. This would allow all of the crap to fall through.

Will this affect the chickens walking on the floor? Will this considered too drafty in the winter? I live in New England..


Thanks for your help

Amcgovn,

You are probally done with your floor however I though I would pass this on for others.

I would go with plywood and FRP (fiber reinforced plastic) board. The FRP board makes it easy to clean out due to the impervious surface and protects the flooring from moisture/water damage. You can get 4 x 8 sheets at your local building supply store Try to build your coop with out any obstructions on the floor and then you can just push the litter out through a clean out door. My 9 year old daughter can clean the 4x8 coop out and put in new shavings in less than 20 min. I made the nesting boxes with external access which it is very convenient for collecting the eggs and gives the chickens more floor space. Wire is going to be drafty in the winter. You can also use linoleum flooring however it will not stand up to metal edge shovels as well as FRP.

 

[JPBIRD1231]

What about Rats or mice. They will get in ?
John

 

[tjmings]

I purchase a coop from someone local that makes them. The bottom of the coop is a slide out tray with 1/4" hardware cloth. The coop is raised about 24" so the intention is that the poop will drop down and what doesn't you can clean by pulling out the tray. Although it sounds good in theory, I don't like the idea of my girls walking around on wire. I ended up putting pine bedding on top and they love going in there to snuggle up. I am going to end up putting down some linoleum over the wire so that the bedding stays put. All of this may not be necessary but I guess I like to spoil my girls

 

[joya36]

I recently attended a talk by a retired AG agent who was assigned to the area around Grand Rapids, Michigan which contains the majority of Michigan's large poultry operations. He recommended that small flock poultry operations should use a 1x1 elevated wire floor over concrete. this way the poop drops to the floor where you can hose it out or shovel it away easily. He was referring to housing small laying flocks, or building grow out pens for small batches of meat birds.

I am going to follow his thoughts and make a small grow out pen with an elevated wire floor, but I will place it over the compost bin. I plan to grow out about 12-15 meat birds at a time in it.


Jerry

Jerry i’m planning on doing the same thing. how did your’s work out? Any pictures? Things you would have done differently?