Bare Dirt Floor??

[Cookie's_Clucks]

The floor in my coop is just dirt right now, do I need to put something else such as shavings/straw etc?

 

[galanie]

Yes. Either is fine. Straw can be messy but my girls prefer it over shavings. In reality, just about everything is in there right now. Leaves, pine needles, shavings, straw, whatever I have on hand. The bare floor will get messed up fast and nasty.

 

[lindseythefork]

Yes, you'll want something to aid in cleanup and keep the smell down. Otherwise, you're going to end up with a floor composed entirely of poop!

 

[stoneeater]

Mine's dirt.
My chickens seem happy.
There is no smell (in a coop with no walls, wire only)
I own litter scoopers.

 

[creekrats]

Mine is bare dirt. About every three weeks to month we just go out with a rake and rake it out. And it doesn't smell bad. (I just made the comment last night to my husband that it was time to clean the coop again.)

 

[Wynette]

I find pelleted bedding (compacted sawdust in pellet form) to work great on dirt floors.

 

[Nicole01]

It's up to you. I have a concrete floor in the coop and I use pine shavings. It's working out well. The run is 1/2 grass and 1/2 sand. I have a litter box scooper also, works great!

 

[stubbornhill]

Our coop/run is inside the barn, with a dirt floor. Inside the hen house, I have shavings, but inside the run that is inside the barn, which is where most of them roost, there is dirt. I smiply rake it out once a week. It isn't messy and it isn't smelly.

 

[jcatblum]

My guineas coop is a dirt floor, but not by choice. I add hay all the time. They move all the hay because they prefer dirt. So now when I am leaving them locked in their coop- like if I go out of town--- I add a bunch of hay to help with the smell but usually they only sleep in their coop. The dirt never appears to be poop filled. Just gets a little smelly if they spend a few days locked up.