Coop Floor....

[blriehl]

My husband has started the coop for our new babies and I am just so thrilled! We are discussing floor options... He thought a small wire floor would be nice so that there is less clean up inside and it will fertilize the ground beneath it. My only worry is winter...
Any opinions would be appreciated!
This is our progress so far:

 

[Jakoda]

I don't think wire would be good for their feet. Also, if droppings fall thru, it might attract 'varmints' vs becoming fertilizer.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Wire floors still have to be hosed down as they DO collect the poo somewhat. This makes mud puddles under your coop that the chickens drink out of. I didn't like that situation- been there done that.

What I like to do now is put sand down and use a rake/kitty litter scoop to get the solids out. Works well!

A solid floor is SOO much warmer too.

 

[cmknight]

Here is what I did. They are going to spend most of their time outside in the run. If they are inside, it is usually to lay and egg or sleep. I put wire under the roost so the poop would fall through into a draw that I can pull out to clean. The rest of the floor is vinyl flooring to make clean up easier. I only wish I had made the wire part a bit bigger to catch the lower rung.

 

[my sunwolf]

If it's a mobile pasture coop, wire would be good but only if they have wooden roosts to sleep on so that they don't have to actually be on the wire all night. In any case, I can't seem to figure out how the poops would ever fall through hardware cloth, so someone more experienced with wire can comment on that. Winter should not be a problem in your area as chickens are fairly cold proof (down to 0˚F).

 

[Mehjr10]

I used sheets of Fiberglass Reinforced Wall Panels (FRP) on the floor to protect the wood floor.. Started with sand over that during the summer, but over the winter went to Deep litter. It makes it easy to clean up. Wire will still collect poo, and leave the area below the birds vulnerable.

 

[MeAndTheBoyz]

Here is what I did. They are going to spend most of their time outside in the run. If they are inside, it is usually to lay and egg or sleep. I put wire under the roost so the poop would fall through into a draw that I can pull out to clean. The rest of the floor is vinyl flooring to make clean up easier. I only wish I had made the wire part a bit bigger to catch the lower rung.

I really like this solution. I have seen many posts where people regret having an all wire floor - this looks like a good compromise. I like how the wired off area is not open to the elements. Being able to use a wider wire under the roosts would help keep the poo collection do a minimum. Much better then trying to cover that area with hardware cloth IMHO.

Yes, chickens deal fairly well with cold, however why not do what you can to keep them warmer and draft free?

Our walk-in coop sits on the ground so we use a sand/gravel combo on the floor with deep litter bedding. We have plenty of ventilation up top that does not create drafts for our birds. They are quite happy hanging out in there when it storms

 

[blriehl]

Here is what I did. They are going to spend most of their time outside in the run. If they are inside, it is usually to lay and egg or sleep. I put wire under the roost so the poop would fall through into a draw that I can pull out to clean. The rest of the floor is vinyl flooring to make clean up easier. I only wish I had made the wire part a bit bigger to catch the lower rung.

This is brilliant! I will be showing my husband this solution I would have never thought to do it just under the roost!

 

[Bens-Hens]

I have just modified our coop to accept a kids playground sand. It's clean and pre washed and only $7.50AU for 20kg.

We have 3/4 of our coop with a floor and sand. As an above poster said, we use a kitty litter shovel to scoop up the droppings. I drop them into a old bulk olive container for use on the garden.






So far it has worked very well for our young birds. I like the wire mesh system too. I have also seen a design in the 'inventions' thread where they had a slopped gutter under the roost which was easy to wash down.