Concrete floor?

[Blue Ridge Hillbilly]

I have an old abandoned dog kennel pad that is a 10 X 30 foot concrete pad. I am thinking about putting a chicken house and run under roof over the concrete pad. The chickens would not be on dirt until I let them out. Would this be a good idea to put them on concrete?

 

[CARS]

Our "coop" is a 9'x40 section (one third) of our barn. Full concrete. That is where they feed, drink, lay, and sleep. They run outside but not in winter.

I just add a few inches of wood shavings on the concrete for comfort.

 

[lizardz]

We have a concrete floor in our coop and I've been very happy with it. We have shavings over it (about 4-6" deep), so there's plenty of padding when they jump off their roosts and it keeps it from drawing out the heat in the winter. You do need something to soften their landings from the roosts so they don't end up with foot/leg injuries. I've been very happy with it - it's really easy to clean. I'm not clear if you're planning on making your coop the size of the entire pad or having that also be part of the run. If it's also going to be part of the run, I would just make sure they had plenty of time out in the dirt every day. I would be cocerned about having them on concrete exclusively as it could lead to foot/leg injuries.
Liz

 

[A.J.'s]

that would personally not appeal to me. To see the chickens dig in the dirt and such, is a joy to me and Id feel that I was depriving them of this.
I think Id like a house on the block, but not the run. just answering....

 

[patandchickens]

I'd put the coop on the slab for sure (indeed, my chicken building *has* a concrete slab) -- it is great as long as you have sufficient bedding down.

I wouldn't be keen on having the run be on concrete, though, unless they were going out to freerange for most of the day on most days and I was darn certain that was not gonna change (some people think they're going to free range the chickens a lot, but discover more predator [or garden] problems than they expected...)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat