Bedding Help

[Colton]

My coop is an old tool shed that i cleaned out. The bottom of it is just plain dirt.( whick my chickens just LOVE to bathe in) On top of that is some alfalfa hay from our feild. It is dried and we tried some pine shavings down but they were eating it.(I think). I was wondering if there is anything i could put on the dirt instead of the hay or someway i could get them to not eat it. Also Is it all right if i leave the floor dirt? Thanks in advance for all the help!!!

< UR AWESOME

 

[bluemusefarm]

Hmmm...we've been using pine shavings and haven't had any trouble. They LOVE to eat them when they're wet (if water spills on them), but otherwise leave them alone. I'm sure it's fine to leave as dirt, too. We keep fresh straw in the nest boxes, but the hens love to kick that onto the floor, too. As long as there's no way for predators to enter below the shed, I'd think leaving the dirt bottom would be just fine. Good luck!

 

[Haunted55]

The dirt floor should be fine but you will need to tend it. After a while it will become impacted with food, droppings, feathers, you get the idea. I learned the hard way this year. You have to maintain the dirt whether it be their floor or the ground in their run. Lime or wood ash worked into the dirt with an iron rake will help but depending on how long the birds are kept here, you may also have to change out some of the dirt.

I just added a good layer of hydrated lime to my chicken's run and worked this into the ground about 4 inches deep. I then added 4 inches of play sand on top of that with DE sprinkled on top.

Now if you're new to chickens, as I am [only had them since last year], you probably will want to change this building later on. Read this as...."It's just not big enough, I need something bigger!" Again....experience talking, you can make any changes then that you think need to be done. Hope this helped and good luck!

 

[TXchickmum]

Dirt floor should be fine. We have dirt on the bottom of our coop (double deck coop/run) floor. -love it! It is very easy to keep clean (but I scoop droppings and food, daily). I don't care for shavings at all. Good luck with your new coop!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The only concern with dirt flooring is if your coop is predator proof. Animals will dig into your coop if it's not on a foundation or an apron of hardware cloth running 16 inches or so out from bottom to prevent digging.

 

[TXchickmum]

x2 on that! -definitely secure the coop from predators that can tunnel.
(We lined the bottom of ours with hardware cloth prior to filling with dirt)

 

[Colton]

The coop has cement walls and it is on the side of a hill so most of it is 4 ft underground. I dont even know how far down the cement goes. In the doorway(no cement) so i dug down 3 ft and put chicken wire and cement down. And my LAST and strongest defense, My awesome dogs, Cooter, Lucky, and Princess. Cooter is only 6 and has killed over 20 coon when we go out in the woods. He and Princess Make sure no hawks or buzzards come in and take our chickens. They sleep outside and Cooter in EXTREMELY protective(he also love the chickens. He has never killed a bird and my big chickens will walk right beside him. Cooter is a Shepard/ Terrier, Princess is a white purebred Shepard. Lucky is a wimpy (but very sweet) Border collar blue healer,something like that.

Thank you all for the advice

I'm going to put some lime in and actually, it was a big toolshed, 26' by 20' or something like that. They have a pen and most of the time I let them out and they free range. We had to put a pen because we had a fox problem with our old chickens that ended up taking 14 of our birds in the middle of the day when the where free ranging behind the barn. We got my new chickens three days later and put them closer to the house. Two days later we were walking down to the creek when we came across......




A DEAD FOX!! I was dancing and singing. Then the past came over me and reminded me of my birds. Don't know how you would feel but i was mad at that fox. I got the biggest stick i could find and gave that fox a big thwack for every bird he murder. HE DESERVED IT

 

[triplepurpose]

An emphatic "YES" to the dirt floor! Dirt is actually the ideal. You can put deep bedding down on top of it, and it will work better than any other surface. Dirt flooring is specifically recommended as the appropriate surface on which to build litter, which I think is the best way to manage manure. Make the coop predator proof by burying hardware cloth or similar a couple of feet beneath the walls all the way around. Here is an informative article on deep litter, but the BYC site itself has plenty of info too:
http://www.plamondon.com/faq_deep_litter.html

Good luck!