chicken wire flooring

[Krayfish57]

My husband is building me a larger chicken coop. The coop will be elevate around 3 feet from the ground and will have perches and nesting boxes. He was wondering if it is OK to use chicken wire for the flooring? That way the poop will fall to the ground and it will be easier for me to rake it up. Right now the one I have now has a floor that slides out and I put shavings down, but I find it to be messy and high maintenance. I have to change the shavings every day. Any suggestions welcome!

 

[countrygoddess]

My opinion is that chicken wire is too wide and would bother their feet. Also, if a predator gets to the house, they can easily pull chickens through (yes, through--not pretty) the wire. Use hardware cloth. Poop won't go through, but it's great for air circulation.

 

[chfite]

I would not use chicken wire for the floor.

If you are changing the shavings daily, you are not fully up on how to use the Deep Litter Method. Check some of the explanatory threads on its implementation.

Chris

 

[allison finch]

I much prefer removing the poo to the deep litter method. I have poop pans under their night roost. I can use a litter scoop and clean every couple of days.

 

[Krayfish57]

I would love to do the deep litter method but I have a pull out tray and it will only allow about a half inch to 1 inch max of shavings or it will not pull out.

 

[Krayfish57]

How do you clean the cloth?

 

[countrygoddess]

I would love to do the deep litter method but I have a pull out tray and it will only allow about a half inch to 1 inch max of shavings or it will not pull out.

But your new one won't have the tray, right? The floor of my old coop, and what is currently being used as our bantam house, is hardware cloth and is up off the ground by about 2 feet. I put down straw and as it gets dirty, I put more straw on top. I just keep layering and layering it until it's too deep and comes up to the roosts and impedes air flow, then I rake it out and start again. A few times a year, I rake out from under the house because the straw breaks down and falls through, along with food powder. There is some poop mixed in, too. It makes a wonderful addition to my compost pile!