Chicken Coop Question!

[Tanis6189]

Hello,
I am new to the forum and am glad I found it. Tons of good information on here! I am currently raising two chickens (Barred Rock and White Leghorn) and two ducks (Pekin and a Saxony) they are all currently thriving in their brooder together and seem to be getting along wonderfully with our dogs (white german shepherd and english bulldog)!

They are about a month old and will be ready to move into their new coop together in the next few weeks. As it is currently being constructed, I am having chicken wire along the floor so predators cant dig underneath.

The only problem that I forsee is the convenience of keeping the bottom clean. I was planning on putting sand/straw along the bottom to cover the wire however the issue that I think that will come about is the sand, obviously, and the straw going underneath the chicken wire below the coop (the floor will be ground level) and the easiest way to clean it out so it does not get super messy.

I understand that it will be a little messy, I am just trying to figure out how to mitigate the mess while still not making it a total pain in the butt to clean the floor.

I just wanted to pick some of your brains on here and I will continue doing some research and racking my own brain on how to manage this!

thanks in advance!

 

[TLWR]

Consider using hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Many critters that want to get to birds can easily break chicken wire.

I'd dig down a bit, lay your hardware cloth, attach to the coop and then put a reasonably thick layer of peastone over it. Then put what you want to use for bedding on that.

 

[Tanis6189]

Consider using hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Many critters that want to get to birds can easily break chicken wire.

I'd dig down a bit, lay your hardware cloth, attach to the coop and then put a reasonably thick layer of peastone over it. Then put what you want to use for bedding on that.

Thank you for the tips! I'm thinking hardware cloth is the way to go along the entire perimeter including the bottom.

 

[Hokum Coco]

A pull out tray (sort of a drawer type affair) under the hardware cloth might be one solution. Or even a tarp spread under the coop might be another way to go.