Building a coop-have some flooring questions!

[JessicaGrant]

I am really winging this...it is my first real building project and for some reason I decided to build it out of scavenged wood and supplies. In the end I *will* have a beautiful coop that cost me about $20 in nails and screws. Well, it might not be beautiful!

My question is about the floor. The coop is raised ...my yard isn't level, so it is about 4" on one side and 12" on the other. I have plywood to put down, but I wonder if it isn't better to make the floor something that poop will fall through. Chicken wire, maybe? But then I wonder if that is ok for their feet...and won't it make it too cold in the winter? Is it better to have a wooden floor and just plan on scooping out the bedding from time to time?

Do they mostly poop while roosting, so is it most important to have something under their roost that is easy to clean?

I can't pour concrete, and I am doing this myself so it needs to be pretty simple! What have you all done?

 

[flip9109]

I like a wood floor and using the deep litter method. some folks put somthing under where they roost thats easy to clean to catch the poop and they empty them daly I think they call them dropping boards.

 

[chickflick]

Wire floor would be too hard on their feet and cause lots of problems. I have a plywood floor and painted it with oil paint so it would be easy to clean. Some folks have put cheap linoleum down to make it easy cleaning. I do the deep liter method during the winter.

 

[d.k]

* I have decided that WHENEVER we get to build our coop, I'm gonna go with a dual floor, 5"(+) sand for the chickees, and board for the people. Maybe I'll do some shavings on top of the sand. Haven't decided that yet.

 

[fruitjuice]

Hello All,
This is quite an interesting thread. We have a wooden floor on our coop and find that it is always wet! Wet all over the floor -- maybe condensation? Not sure.

We were trying to do deep litter, but with all the moisture, have been concerned because sooner or later, the plywood will rot and we will fall through!

Do we just keep on adding the litter and eventually it will provide enough insulation to stop the condensation problem (if that is waht it is?).

Thanks to you all who offer your wisdom to us newbies. It really makes a difference.

Fruitjuice

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

We have 3/4 inch plywood floors and painted them with exterior sealer and then exterior oil based gloss paint for very easy cleaning. And never gets wet. I painted the walls with the same paint.

 

[flip9109]

unless your coop is nearly airtight i don't think it's condensation. if it is.... you need to put in some vents near the roof to let it out.

 

[Prairie Mary]

For our floor we did the dirt and cement mix mentioned in Gail Damerow's book. You mix the two dry poor it in the coop and get it as smooth as possible and then water it down. . . and wait. We have fairly loose soil and we sieved the rocks out. Of course, you need to have the building on the ground for this to work and I imagine fairly strong boards on your down hill side. You would have a level floor that easy to clean when your done. We use pine shavings on top of that.

Gosh though, I have to admit I still haven't figured out the cleaning the coop stuff. Advice varies from once a week to once a year. Anyone care to shed some light?

Prairie Chick

ps if you want more info on the fake cement floor, just ask!

 

[chickflick]

Cleaning the coop is up to what you prefer. I do the deep litter method during the winter when it's too cold and too much snow to empty out the coop of it's shavings. During the summer I clean out the poop under the roosts every couple of days. Deep litter method is when you just keep adding shavings on top of the old.... take a rake and mix it up once or twice a week. Lots of people do it and it's not bad, but I'm a cleaning nut, so it's what I prefer. It's what ever floats your boat!

 

[lleighmay]

I renovated an elderly (think 1940s) coop on my property that had big holes in the floor boards. I put down OSB and topped it with a clearance linoleum remnant I've had for years (I was going to paint a floor cloth on it in my spare time yeah right) and used some clearance stick-on tiles to cover the remainder (the chickens' space and my storage space). I got the idea from several people on BYC. So far so good. I use deep litter on top and, while I haven't had it long enough to clean it out yet, I plan to do that about 3x/year and I can mop the linoleum. I just stapled the remnant down- didn't figure the chickens would care and I wasn't going for esthetics, just cleanliness. So far I'm very pleased