A question on coop flooring

[LakotaWolf]

Hi folks. I've looked at so many coops with runs online. All of them too small and seriously over priced, so I decided to build my own for around $200 My coop and run building supplies are coming in this weekend. I'll be building a 4' X 4' X 8' wide coop with a 8' X 12' X 6' high run, fully enclosed top and sides with 1" chicken wire. Both will be stationary. My question is about the flooring of the coop. A lot of folks go with a wood floor. Some use wood shavings, and some use hay, and it has to be maintained or it gets real stinky in there. Today, I saw one that used a 1" square wire mesh for a floor. The droppings go straight down to the sand below. He claims that once a month he uses a screen sifter and cleans the droppings out to be used elsewhere. I live here in southern Texas where summers can get to over 100 degrees, and winters rarely get below 40 degrees. I'm thinking the mesh flooring would be a great way to increase air flow and keep the coop cooler during the day. My biggest concern would be about the chickens feet, are they going to catch their feet in the 1" mesh? What's your opinion on this?

 

[0wen]

Wire isn't great for their feet. I would consider an organic mix. I use wood chips (not shavings - bagged mulch is okay to use, and you can get 3 or 4 bags of various sizes: chips, chunks, etc for around $8 + dried leaves, + grass clippings + herbs + garden waste. This will compost in the chicken coop and run. I use basically the same mix in the coop and run, and if the coop mix breaks down faster than the run, I'll just scoop it into the run. This is essentially a deep litter method with a wood chip base. Little, if any, noticeable odor and the only thing I do is run a quick rake across it when I go out to feed them and occasionally toss in some new wood chips, weeds, herbs, etc.

 

[MandalaMaMa]

I'm with Owen -- wire is not good for their feet in the long run I wouldn't think. We put down plywood floors in our coop and then vinyl floor covering. We then add straw to the floor. I pick up the larger clumps of poo once in awhile but normally just rack it around. I like having the vinyl floor covering for cleaning out the coop. It makes like much easier when there is a mess. Good cross ventilation seems to work good for us. I got two windows that we open on those warmer days. But we rarely see the 90's. It's my experience that the chickens don't really spend that much time in the coop durning the day other than to lay their eggs.

 

[LakotaWolf]

Yeah, like I said. I was concerned about how their feet would would react to a mesh floor. I guess I'll stay with a wood floor covered in straw, and just change it out periodically. What I'll do is add prop open windows on each side for better cross ventilation. Thanks for the quick reply folks.

 

[MeepBeep]

Since you are building if from scratch if you are able to factor in enough height to use deep litter (cool compost) I highly recommend you consider it... You have to go all out and do it right for it to work, but once it's works it's essentially only once a year clean out if that... With just some casual adding of more organic material as the year goes on to maintain it's depth...

My coop is going on two years now, no stink, no smell, low cost and VERY low maintenance, the only maintenance I do regularly beyond adding more deep litter is remove a poop tarp under their roosting area, the deep litter takes care of all the rest of the poop...

The drawback is you really need to be able to keep it deep... I know some sites will say you can get by with 4-6" but I disagree and recommend no less than 10-12" once settled closer to 18" when you add more material...

This is what my coop floor looks like, it's about 12" deep, no smell beyond a 'sweet' earthy smell...