Can I tile the interior of my coop for easy cleaning?

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

So I'm planning a small coop for about 2-4 hen's (depends on how many of our chicks are girls) And I have come up with a general plan, my thought's turned to cleaning and ease of maintenance. I began to envision myself interacting with my coop and how that would work out. I have an area all picked out that will provide shade and sun, space and protection from our gusty winds, but it's not the greatest for drainage. Our soil tends to muck up and stay that way when watered regularly. I also know myself... I will want to spray out the interior and most likely take a diluted bleach formula to the interior of the coop from time to time. The regular sweeping up the litter just won't cut it for me. Now I plan on using ply wood on top of a frame, and I thought... if I find myself like bathroom tile that is on a mesh backing it should be simple to install a drain and the tile with grout ect. Then cover the tile with litter to minimize the slippage and voila! A tiled floor and wall where I can scoop out liter and sanitize. The drain will have an old piece of pipe extending down into a bucket to catch the poopy water, that would then be easy enough to haul to the flower bed to be dumped. It wouldn't cost much to ad this to my plan's if I use old or "ugly" tiles... I mean it's not like the chicken's will have a preference. And I have experience with laying tile... So... is this ok? will this work? Any info or tips from a seasoned coop builder is very much so appreciated. I'm afraid we will end up with a rather crooked and shabby looking coop.... so one last question... how do we make sure to have right angles?

 

[PunkinPeep]

I'm not an expert on tile, but my first thought is that i would be concerned the grout would soak up "chicken moisture." If i'm wrong about that, then there's no reason not to do it. Lots of people, including me, put linoleum in the coop to ease clean up. I don't have a drain out of there, but i can definitely see the benefit of a set up like that.

 

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

I was thinking the same thing punkin... I was hoping with the grout properly sealed it would work....

 

[CityChook]

do a search in the blue bar above - there are others here on BYC who have installed tile.

Pros: easy to clean. looks nice, easy to install
Cons: grout is absorbant, litter will cover it, could get slippery with shavings on top resulting in injuries, will be heavy (only applies for tractors)

I just have a plywood floor that has been primed and painted. Two years now and I'm still quite happy with it's performance.

 

[ChixPix]

There are grouts you can buy that already have the sealer in them. Resin based. It's what I used in my kitchen and don't have any problems with grout stains. Having said that, if you just pick a grout color that's darker or brown (poop colored? ew) then even if they do get stained it won't be obvious.

 

[gsim]

If it is to be as small as you say, then it is possible and practical to do a slide-out floor pan. That way, the poopy mess comes to you instead of you reaching in to it. I did linoleum and caulked it all around edges so that if I hose out coop, it will not allow water under walls, and also to keep mites from having a breeding place.

That said, if not doing a slider, I would just do the coop so that one entire side of it will open for full access to change out litter. For as small a coop as you are doing, you could consider having a poop-board and roost combo that would lift out easily for cleaning. A hinged roof would lend itself nicely to that concept.

If you build a poop board and install it under the roosts, it will have most of the poop on it every day. It should be scraped daily

to maintain cleanliness. Proper size is for it to be 24" deep x the length of roost. Roost should be 12" from wall min and higher than nest. So it is easy to see that even a coop for only two chooks needs to be bigger than you might imagine to have ease of cleaning. For two to four chooks, I would set the nest at floor level and under the poop board. You only need one roomy nest (18"x18") for up to 4 chooks.

Do not forget ventilation and do install enough of it full time year round type. Also do not underestimate predators.

 

[LindsayB]

We have laminate tile in ours. We just got enough tile squares to cover the floor and they fit perfectly. you just peel the paper off on the back and stick in down to the floor. very very easy. Heres a picture of what it looks like (Our coop isn't finished though!)...

 

[Chickielady]

trying to scrap dried poo from tile grout would be such a bummer, and let's not mention tile is very expensive.
Linoleum works really good and you can get end pieces at flooring stores for good prices.
It also holds the sawdust or hay well, and can be bleach-water mopped as much as you want, no scraping of crusty poo out of the grout.

 

[Penturner]

Green Thumbs. Tile with grout is used for kitchen counters. That says a little bit about sanitization ability. Since you want this because you already know you want to be able to clean better than is normal, I don't think you have to worry to much about that. just make sure you do use your bleach solution once in a while. If that does not satisfy your concerns. They now make an Epoxy grout that is self sealing. no more porous grout. My only other concern is that tile likes to crack and lift if set on just ply wood. You can get some really nice tile for around $2.00 a sq foot and I have seen it around $1.00 a sq foot at Home Depot. So I would not necessarily go cheap on the quality of the tile as long as you get the price. I am not sure I would even set it with thin set because that has more to do with getting the tile all level and looking good for being inside your house. Gluing it down with something like liquid nails might work better for keeping it where you want it. Otherwise my opinion is that it would be a top notch improvement over wood , shavings and all that other stuff that you know absorbs and holds all the nasties like bacteria and what not. Linoleum is a pretty common floor covering for coops and it is not nearly as rugged and actually is more likely to hold bacteria than tile would be. On the microscopic bug level Linoleum has lots of pockets in it that hold bacteria. it also needs to be sanitized it is just that most people don't think so because it looks smooth to us. let the no wax shine wear of and watch how fast it holds dirt though. it almost cannot be cleaned. that shine is a barrier to dirt but not bacteria. Still I don't think people have a lot of problems from using it because it makes cleaning effectively easier to do.

 

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

Thanks for all the responses and input... from what Iv read I'm leaning more towards linoleum but who knows what will happen. I just know I want that drain for sure, and a smooth surface that won't be too porous. That being said I want to thank lindsayB for the picture. I was thinking of something a bit bigger, with a lid roof that lifted up but very similar to yours. Thanks for the visual!