coop floor material

[aart]

and in the part of the country I live in

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[lrach73]

My flock is about 12 weeks old now. We started with shavings in the coop, but they got smelly fast and attracted a LOT of flies (complete change of shavings 1x per week, 8x5 coop with 7 chickens). Plus, I have terrible allergies to pine, so we decided to give sand a try.

Currently, I do not have poop boards, which is on my soon-to-be-added wish list. The poo sits on top of the sand, so it's easy to scoop away. Zero smell, zero flies. I have some PDZ to add if it does start to smell.

The chicks seem to like it. We have a thermometer in the coop and it's regularly several degrees cooler in there. On really hot days, I usually find them inside the coop (they have many shade opportunities outside) burrowed down in the sand, so I'm guessing it's cooler.

The jury is still out whether or not I'll keep the sand. We've really only had it about 3-4 weeks. It is VERY dusty, so I have to wear a mask when I scoop. If we try something new, it will be straw.

I really need to figure out what to put in the run. It's turning into a muddy mess!

 

[Ghosty]

I'm getting started on a run and coop this week. First birds for me. We have 8 guineas and 2 welsummers hens, and are getting 7 more guinea keets and 3 brahma chicks next month.
I have a 5' x 16' coop 6 - 8' tall. I am building an 8' x 16' run 6.5 - 5.5' tall off the coop and plan to build another run 5 x 16 or bigger at a later date.
I guess the point is I thought about linoleum but instead got 2 sheets of 3/8 plywood to go over the existing shed floor. I can just hinge one sidewall of the coop partway up so i can pull out the floor on that side, clean it, and slide it back in. The other side is the door and allows for sliding the floor out as well.
Anyway, I haven't decided what to use on my floor. Sounds like sand might be less dusty to clean if you misted it lightly with water. But I'm not so sure it's for me either. Honestly, I may just try deep litter for the coop and pull the floors out and tractor it straight to a compost pile for the garden. Maybe sandy soil for the run I can just turn over and add some new once in awhile.

 

[sirrobyn0]

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View attachment 1445670

No good reason why not to. Now it's done.

 

[HH.Wench]

I put a new coop in recently and went with vinyl sticky tiles on the floor. They were super easy to install and a lot easier to handle and cut than a large sheet. I added some DAP flooring adhesive to amp up the adhesion.

 

[Carolrich]

You could not pay me to use sand. My experience with sand is that it becomes laden with chicken poo, and is either a dusty mess, or a wet mess. I keep DL in my coop, and can hang out in there without issue. I visited a friend with sand floor. Even though he meticulously rakes the poo out every morning, 5 minutes in his coop sent me into an asthma reaction that lasted all day.

DL in both coop and run work well for me, and I avoid the cost of buying shavings.

What is DL?

 

[Carolrich]

We have a raised coop. 4x8. I had planned to cover the plywood floor with linoleum. Never did it. We have poop boards with pdz. Pine shavings on the floor and nest boxes. Scoop the boards twice per week. The coop is a little over one year old. Have done a complete removal of the shavings twice. The floor is never wet. I should add that the poop boards allow a tiny bit of pdz to fall to the coop floor. I am very happy with this setup.

What is pdz?

 

[lazy gardener]

What is DL?

Deep Litter: made up of natural bedding materials which are intended to compost in place. Dry leaves, hay, straw, aged wood chips, grass clippings, garden debris. Over time, this builds up and mixes with the chicken poo, resulting in a deep litter in either coop or run.

What is pdz?

Zeolite. Trade name: Stall Dry. It's a granulated mineral substance which dries the bedding and absorbs and binds ammonia to eliminate the risk of an ammonia build up in the coop.

 

[Carolrich]

I am by no means an expert. That said, I use low dust pine shavings in my 5x10 coop. I have only 8 chickens. Every day I use vinyl gloves and pick out the poo under the roosts, put it in a bucket and put it in a compost pile. This takes 5 minutes. Occasionally I top off the bedding with fresh. I clean out the co-op totally in fall and spring. No flies nor odors. I live in Kentucky where the summer weather is hot and humid.

 

[Carolrich]

Deep Litter: made up of natural bedding materials which are intended to compost in place. Dry leaves, hay, straw, aged wood chips, grass clippings, garden debris. Over time, this builds up and mixes with the chicken poo, resulting in a deep litter in either coop or run.



Zeolite. Trade name: Stall Dry. It's a granulated mineral substance which dries the bedding and absorbs and binds ammonia to eliminate the risk of an ammonia build up in the coop.

Is it like food grade DE?