What to do

[brittanyes]

What do all of you use at the bottom of your chicken coop/run? I was gonna use sand but would like to know what others are using. I have a little 6 chicken coop and almost ready to put the chicks in there.

Also I would like to know where I should put their feeders? Is that something that matters? There doesn't seem to be a lot of room on the inside to keep it so I was gonna put them on the outside however I will put them inside if it matters.

And lastly, if they have a predator proof coop do I have to close them in at night or can I keep it open for them to go in and out if they wanted?

 

[JetCat]

my backyard pen is dirt floor, used to be nice centipede lawn but that only lasted about a week, my breeding barn has a sand floor, the sand is a little easier to clean but neither is a problem, the backyard pen can be messy after rain and we get dirty eggs during those times, i can't really say about the sand floor as it's a fully covered 30x72 barn so it doesn't get wet.

all my feeders hang about 4-6" off the floor, in my backyard coop it's under the sheltered end of the pen to stay dry (it's not a coop/run design just one big run with a sheltered end), you just want it out of the weather so it doesn't get wet. if you're in a location where temperatures are low enough they don't want to venture outside you might need it inside your coop but that's not a problem here in the south.

lastly if you've done your best to secure the coop/run there's no need to close them in.

 

[GodofPecking]

Chickens do not go out at night ever. They cannot see at night at all. Their eyes are not even 5% as good as our eyes are at night, they go blind long before we do each night. So they will never get up and go out at night ever.

Doesn't matter where you put the food so long as they can get at it for a few hours each day. Inside outside as you please.

 

[GodofPecking]

Oh, and at the bottom of the run dirt floor is best, and if I am building a brooder in an old fridge or something that has a bottom, then I gather a box or two of leaf litter, the dirtier the better, from under a nearby tree.

However, if your chickens come from planet kittylitter, then use kitty litter on the floor, or if they are descended from chickens that came from planet shavedwood, then use wood shavings.

Most of the chickens from those two planets are originally descended from a moneyplanet so if you can't go out and buy kittylitter or bags of woodchips where you live, then just use some currency bills for them to poop on at the bottom of the cage.

 

[triplepurpose]

We have deep litter which is mostly shredded straw mixed with loose dirt, sometimes some fallen leaves too, on top of a dirt floor. Deep litter of some kind over a dirt floor is what i would recommend to anyone starting out. You will save yourself a lot of pointless labor shoveling/raking/hauling poo by designing and using a good deep litter system from the get-go. Deep litter gives u a lot of flexibilty and keeps things nearly odor free with little trouble if u do it right, but not all "deep litter" is created equal, so u wanna do your research tho...

 

[Jensownzoo]

Inside the coop I will either use pine shavings or a mixture of rice hulls/chopped straw. I broke out in hives a few weeks back and thought it was from the pine shavings, so I investigated the second option. Now I'm pretty sure it was from sawing through pretreated lumber, but the hull/straw bedding is still attractive from a compostable (as in quicker) point of view.

The run will be deep litter on dirt. I have woods full of leaves to throw in there for the chickens to pick through and break down for me.

 

[gotro17]

We poured a concrete slab in our new coop... Aside from linoleum, what should we put down to cover? Is shredded straw something we could get at the feed store?

 

[GodofPecking]

We have deep litter which is mostly shredded straw mixed with loose dirt, sometimes some fallen leaves too, on top of a dirt floor. Deep litter of some kind over a dirt floor is what i would recommend to anyone starting out. You will save yourself a lot of pointless labor shoveling/raking/hauling poo by designing and using a good deep litter system from the get-go.

+1 I have no idea what the difference between leaf litter and deep litter is, I go for dirt/no floor and leaves, but above all else I too believe it is a great idea to "save yourself a lot of pointless labor shoveling/raking/hauling poo"
they are wise words.

We poured a concrete slab in our new coop... Aside from linoleum, what should we put down to cover?

Feel free to smack me for saying it but lots of people had linoleum in the 70's and most of our chickens are descended from chickens that came from the 70's so they will feel right at home on linoleum.

feel free to smack me now.

 

[Tumbling K]

+1 I have no idea what the difference between leaf litter and deep litter is, I go for dirt/no floor and leaves, but above all else I too believe it is a great idea to "save yourself a lot of pointless labor shoveling/raking/hauling poo"
they are wise words.
Feel free to smack me for saying it but lots of people had linoleum in the 70's and most of our chickens are descended from chickens that came from the 70's so they will feel right at home on linoleum.

feel free to smack me now.

I don't have anything useful to add, but.............

I hope you feel wanted now.........lol

 

[GodofPecking]

thanks. I put in the effort, so it's good to be rewarded appropriately.