Bedding question

[Abriana]

I use vinyl flooring-it is great. Easy to clean and all. Pine shavings work the bestt for chickens. Do not use cedar shavings. If you have pine trees, you could make pine chips-but buying the bags from a local farm store would be easier.

 

[Sara Ranch]

In the barn, there is a concrete floor. I scrape the stuff up daily. I'll be adding sand in there, when I have some more.

In some spaces, there is ceramic tile. That's easily cleaned too.

I clean all of my animal spaces daily, usually first thing in the morning. The smell, if any, is gone quickly. There are few flies. The easiest one/fastest one to clean is the sand. I can usually tell what the poop is (solid, runs, weird) even with the sand method. I could even tell there was a shell less egg.

I also put sand on wet stuff. It dries it up the poop quickly and the smell goes away fast. And I put sand in hard to reach places where poop ends up. The sand sucks up the moisture and I scrape it out of there and on to the sand floor of the coop. (I didn't design the coop. I just haven't gotten around to a full remodel yet, so that I don't have chickens pooping in hard to reach/hard to clean places.) The coop has a plywood floor. With the remodel, it will have the vinyl floor under the sand. I don't use a poop board. I clean the spaces daily (in the morning) and the animals are usually out all day until bedtime.

 

[cmom]

I don't use poop boards either. I have wire under the roosts and the poop falls to the ground and I rake out regularly. The poop then goes into a front-end loader and into the compost. When I clean the coops, the shaving also go into the compost. I do put DE in the poop pits, on the floors and in the nest boxes and sometimes some in their feed (food grade).

 

[CDA15]

I don't use poop boards either. I have wire under the roosts and the poop falls to the ground and I rake out regularly. The poop then goes into a front-end loader and into the compost. When I clean the coops, the shaving also go into the compost. I do put DE in the poop pits, on the floors and in the nest boxes and sometimes some in their feed (food grade).

Hi cmom! I'm trying to picture it. What do you mean by wire?

 

[CDA15]

In the barn, there is a concrete floor. I scrape the stuff up daily. I'll be adding sand in there, when I have some more.

In some spaces, there is ceramic tile. That's easily cleaned too.

I clean all of my animal spaces daily, usually first thing in the morning. The smell, if any, is gone quickly. There are few flies. The easiest one/fastest one to clean is the sand. I can usually tell what the poop is (solid, runs, weird) even with the sand method. I could even tell there was a shell less egg.

I also put sand on wet stuff. It dries it up the poop quickly and the smell goes away fast. And I put sand in hard to reach places where poop ends up. The sand sucks up the moisture and I scrape it out of there and on to the sand floor of the coop. (I didn't design the coop. I just haven't gotten around to a full remodel yet, so that I don't have chickens pooping in hard to reach/hard to clean places.) The coop has a plywood floor. With the remodel, it will have the vinyl floor under the sand. I don't use a poop board. I clean the spaces daily (in the morning) and the animals are usually out all day until bedtime.

you've given me some ideas. I may put sand down in the run on top of the concrete and then add the wood chips. I like the benefits of scooping with the sand. However the wood chips is free to us, so we'll start there!

 

[CDA15]

I use vinyl flooring-it is great. Easy to clean and all. Pine shavings work the bestt for chickens. Do not use cedar shavings. If you have pine trees, you could make pine chips-but buying the bags from a local farm store would be easier.

Thanks for your comment on the vinyl flooring and yes, we do have pine trees. We will be making wood chips whether we use them for the run or our flower beds. In our previous home we had a wooded hillside where we could "dump" brush/ tree trimmings/ fallen branches. With our home now there isn't a good place, so we chip it to reduce the pile.

 

[cmom]

Hi cmom! I'm trying to picture it. What do you mean by wire?

These pictures were taken many years ago when we first built this coop. Every coop we've built we have changed something. The wire under the roosts works great because the poop isn't inside but on the ground and I can easily rake it out.

We have since added another lower roost and taken out the ladder. We have also removed the window on the one end and added more nest boxes. The coops have a lot of ventilation.

 

[CDA15]

These pictures were taken many years ago when we first built this coop. Every coop we've built we have changed something. The wire under the roosts works great because the poop isn't inside but on the ground and I can easily rake it out.
View attachment 1098682 View attachment 1098683
We have since added another lower roost and taken out the ladder. We have also removed the window on the one end and added more nest boxes. The coops have a lot of ventilation.
View attachment 1098699 View attachment 1098707 View attachment 1098708

I see! Thanks for the pictures. I love it! It doesn't get to cold in the winter for them?

 

[Abriana]

These pictures were taken many years ago when we first built this coop. Every coop we've built we have changed something. The wire under the roosts works great because the poop isn't inside but on the ground and I can easily rake it out.
View attachment 1098682 View attachment 1098683
We have since added another lower roost and taken out the ladder. We have also removed the window on the one end and added more nest boxes. The coops have a lot of ventilation.
View attachment 1098699 View attachment 1098707 View attachment 1098708

The wire is a great idea, but is that chicken wire or hardware cloth under there? Predators can easily rip right through chicken wire, but not hardware cloth. Just a thought to keep in mind!

 

[cmom]

I see! Thanks for the pictures. I love it! It doesn't get to cold in the winter for them?

I live in North Central Florida. We do get some frost and freezes in the winter. I don't heat my coops and if it's really cold and maybe windy. I will close the vents on the windy side.