caulk and sealant

[sf49ersy]

Can I use caulk in the chicken coop to seal up all the edges or will it hurt the chickens?

Also, I want to seal the whole inside so that the chicken poop and the water doesn't soak into the wood...should I stay away from any particular kind of wood sealant?

Thank you!

 

[bills]

I have heard that chickens will pick at the caulking. I don't know if they would swallow it or not. I have heard of them eating the foam type of sealants. Tiny cracks won't be a problem anyways, and may just help with the venting. Larger openings could be perhaps filled with small strips of wood screwed on, or perhaps wood putty, as that dries rock hard.

I used Thompsons water seal on my coop floor, and let it dry for several days before putting the birds in. I have seen no ill effects. Of course there is litter on top of the floor so their exposure to it is limited anyways. The main thing was to let all the fumes evaporate, and disperse.

 

[sf49ersy]

thanks!

 

[Brian]

Why seal a floor? You have tons of litter on top, right? The poop lands on the litter, not the wood below.

 

[Dawn419]

We used a linoleum remnant ($15.00) to cover the wood floor in our main coop. It helps protect the wood and clean up is a breeze. We just used staples to attach the linoleum to the wood.

Hope this helps!

Dawn

 

[twigg]

Quote:
A few small gaps here and there aren't much of an issue.

I know lots of ppl use linoleum. I personally don't like it, it is too easy a place for mites to hide.

I would recommend a frequent removal and through cleaning if you do prefer to use it.

Just a thought.

 

[patandchickens]

I can understand wanting to seal a floor. You never know when there will be a spilled waterer, etc, or the birds decide to scratch an area bare of litter and then poop on it. Mine do sometimes, I assume they are not totally unique ;P

Me, I primed and painted my plywood tractor floor; the floor in their winter quarters is vinyl flooring over plywood over insulation board over concrete (I did not build it that way, it used to be a dog boarding kennel).

I nailed/screwed thin trim all around the edges of the vinyl flooring, to prevent gaps that could catch litter and get nasty in time (which does happen with rubber stall mats in horse stalls, so I was not going to take chances with a chicken stall <g>). I caulked *underneath* the trim (between trim and flooring, and trim and wall) to try to prevent mites from being able to hide under there. I wiped away any caulk that blebbed out, so there is none where chickens could possibly get to it. I am not sure whether it actually succeeds in excluding mites, nor whether it was a good or bad idea; I will tell you I had to air the building out for several days before I stopped smelling caulk and could put the chickens in there :|

Pat

 

[chickenbike]

patandchickens, interesting what you did with your floor. I'll be building the playhouse coop and am looking at flooring options. vinyl, linoleum, sealant? I would like to be able to clean it easily and also avoid the dreaded red mite!

 

[twigg]

Quote:
An oil-based finish, like Australian Timber Oil, applied yearly will help, and it's a finish that won't crack or glaze.

Regular dusting with DE will also help, do it once a month after sweeping out the litter.

 

[chickenbike]

Forgive my ignorance......what is DE?