can a coop have a mesh floor

[r1ng3l78]

i'm planning a coop and having been thinking about making the floor mesh with slide out pans underneath (kinda like a birdcage). my intent was lower maintanance and i could easly empty the pans into the compost/garden. but i've never raised chickens and i know some animals won't walk on something they can see through and also i live in NE TN and wondered if the coop might get too cold in the winter. i haven't seen any pics of this setup and wondered if anyone would have some advice. thanks.

 

[Judy]

Most people don't recommend it for chickens. Their poop is sometimes large enough that the holes would have to be pretty big. A draft from below on a cold night isn't a great idea, either. I've also read it can injure their feet.

About half their poop is pooped at night on the roost, so a lot of people have a "poop board" or tray under the roost which can be easily removed for cleaning -- and dumping the poop in your compost pile.

 

[crazy4chickens5]

Yeah I agree with flockwatcher. It's really not that good of an idea. Once, when my Silkie was sick, I brought him into my basement and kept him in a dog cage with those kinds of metal bars, but had to put thin pieces of woos over it, and clean them everyday! It was hard, but obviously my Silkie liked it because his environment was always SO CLEAN. But for a coop I would definitely stick to shavings, or any type of bedding. But who knows? Chicken owners are known to be creative, so try something new! Just make sure to make it easy for maintenance, but very safe. Report back to here if you have any great ideas! I'll tell you my opinion!
-Kyle

 

[cafarmgirl]

I think you will find maintenance more of a pain in the backside then with a solid floor. The size of the poops my standard hens make at night is sometimes astonishing. The mesh would have to be huge to allow that through! And if it doesn't go through then it's going to be getting stuck on and in the mesh. Just seems like a big headache to me versus just raking out under the roosts or sweeping off a poop board each morning. I also wouldn't want the drafts an open floor would allow.

 

[TattooedKeeper3]

I have to agree with everyone else above. The way a chickens feet are and their toes like to curl around thing and grab a hold, might not be the best to have a mesh floor. I have had sand, hay, and pine shavings as different types of bedding for the floors. The sand was nice but I couldn't keep doing it for size coop I had.
My old landlord hauled hay so he let me buy some fairly cheap. I would like to have a cement floor to just hose off each morning/evening for the coops. I live in East Texas so our winter isn't but a total of a few weeks of cold weather in the total winter season. When I removed all the sand over time in one of the coops the ground was hard enough to be cement. I would take a garden tool to scrap and rack out the floor twice a day. Then I would hose everything down. It actually helped keep things cool and clean in there during our what feels like 200 degree summers.
I am in a new house now about 30 southwest of where I was. I have a mix of hay and pine shavings from the winter. I will be clearing all that our soon to put fresh hay down for the hot months. Depending on what the climate is where you live that might help you with your decision.

 

[mickey662]

I'm building a new coop what do u thing of aluminum sheet flooring

 

[cafarmgirl]

Probably very slippery, even with bedding over it.

 

[TattooedKeeper3]

I did have aluminum flooring under part of the roosts and it was very slippery. I had to remove it because one of my babies slipped and hurt their leg. I had to splint it for a few weeks. It was a good idea that didn't work out for me. That was my first coop I put together myself.

 

[kynewbchickie]

After reading everything above, I'm going to say you all convinced me to NOT use 1/2" hardware mesh as my floor...looks like I'll be using pine bedding and a poop board instead!

I'm really loving this forum board considering we're about to start construction on ours - now estimating chicken math, LOL

Thanks for all the information!

 

[crazy4chickens5]

You're

After reading everything above, I'm going to say you all convinced me to NOT use 1/2" hardware mesh as my floor...looks like I'll be using pine bedding and a poop board instead!

I'm really loving this forum board considering we're about to start construction on ours - now estimating chicken math, LOL

Thanks for all the information!

You're welcome! =)