Poll: Best chicken coop floor

[260906]

I am seeking your opinions and input about what floor to put in our future chicken coop. This is the first time I have started a poll. If I have created this correctly, you may pick more than one answer. If you have any comments or prefer a flooring that is not listed in the poll, please tell me about it. Thanks!

 

[Aacre]

I use a dirt floor in my coop. In the summers I like to leave it just plain dirt, as my chickens usually free range most of the day in the warm months, so no need for much litter. In the winter/cold months, I lay hay/straw down for added insulation and it gives the chickens something to peck at when they won't go out in the run. My chickens love the dirt floor because they can make their own dust bath bowls in the dirt, so in the summer they can cool off in the shaded coop while taking a dust bath.

 

[JackE]

Best floor, IMO, 3/4" plywood, covered by Blackjack #57. It's a rubberized roof coat product I got from Lowes. You put this down, and forget about your coop's floor. It totally seals all floor joints, as well as the floor to wall seam. Vinyl or linoleum will age and fail at some point, letting moisture, chickens crap, and who knows what else, (Bugs, parasites) under it to eat at your floor. Then you will need to tear this crap crusted mess out of your coop, a piece at a time, and replace it. The roofcoat has been down in my coop over 4yrs now, and looks just like it did when I first put it in there. Not bulletproof, but for sure chicken proof.

 

[chickiegirlsme]

We're new to chickens - just got 3 last year. What we did for a floor was to put down painted plywood, cover it with a layer of ice and water shield (it goes a couple of inches up all of the walls too), and then put down a remnant of linoleum that we got cheap at the local flooring place. We didn't hook the lino down. We just screwed 3" high trim boards all around the edges of the floor to hold it down and to cover the ice and water shield that goes up the walls. Now, when we have to change the lino, we will just have to unscrew the boards, pull it out, and put new in. Seemed like a good idea. Now time will tell. By the way, the ice and water shield was left over from our roof, and the lino only cost us about $20. We already had the paint and trim boards so the plywood was the only thing we had to purchase.

 

[maverick7wi]

Best floor, IMO, 3/4" plywood, covered by Blackjack #57. It's a rubberized roof coat product I got from Lowes. You put this down, and forget about your coop's floor. It totally seals all floor joints, as well as the floor to wall seam. Vinyl or linoleum will age and fail at some point, letting moisture, chickens crap, and who knows what else, (Bugs, parasites) under it to eat at your floor. Then you will need to tear this crap crusted mess out of your coop, a piece at a time, and replace it. The roofcoat has been down in my coop over 4yrs now, and looks just like it did when I first put it in there. Not bulletproof, but for sure chicken proof.

Hello, I'm about to raise chickens once winter breaks here in ND (which may be a while yet ). Anyway, I inherited a large old chicken coop from the previous homeowners. After a thorough cleaning, I would like to do something different with the floor and really like your idea. The existing floor is dirt and seems to be very dusty. I'm not seeing Blackjack #57 on Lowe's website. Can you provide more of a description? Thanks.

 

[enola]

Concrete works great with the deep litter method!

 

[JackE]

Hello, I'm about to raise chickens once winter breaks here in ND (which may be a while yet ). Anyway, I inherited a large old chicken coop from the previous homeowners. After a thorough cleaning, I would like to do something different with the floor and really like your idea. The existing floor is dirt and seems to be very dusty. I'm not seeing Blackjack #57 on Lowe's website. Can you provide more of a description? Thanks.

Here's the link. This is what I used.



http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&productId=3043257

 

[blucoondawg]

I used a 3/4" plywood floor and gave it a generous coat of boilded linseed oil which should preserve it quite well, I will see this spring when I clean the bedding out, at that point I will give it another coat for good measure if it seems to be working well, if not I will go to jack's method of the blackjack. I don't like vinyl flooring as it is slippery and if it has seems in it like the 12 inch square tiles moisture can still get through and even worse it will then be trapped under the vinyl where it can't dry out and it will rot the floor for sure, I prefer wood like I am using with the wood shavings directly on top if it.

 

[blucoondawg]

I have never sanitized a coop and never had an issue

 

[wholehearted]

Our last coop had concrete floors because the spot where we were building already had a concrete slab area. We sealed it and then I used pine shavings over the top of it. It was great. Did a full clean out twice a year and all I had to do was sweep the concrete and put down new shavings. We have since moved and are planning our next coop. Since concrete is not possible in this location, I've been pondering what flooring to use, but I'm really sad that I can't have concrete. Timely poll for me!