Coop Flooring- which is the way to go?

[Lydia]

As written by my husband who knows how to explain what he's doing better than I can-

"The coop floor platform is 4x8. I am planning on covering the subfloor framing with 1/2 inch hardware cloth, and then laying a sheet of 3/4 inch ply over it for the floor. The sheet would be cut out along the side walls to allow droppings to fall through the hardware cloth, but I would leave a 2' wide central "hall" through the coop for humans to walk through for cleaning, feeding, watering, checking, etc and also under the wall framing.
Under the floor would be a second subloor framing of 2x2s that would allow a plywood sheet to slide in and out underneath the floor- partly to catch the droppings through the hardware cloth floor, and partly to have a solid floor under the coop when necessary to eliminate drafts and critter entry, but it could be slid out for cleaning and for summertime ventilation during the day. The coop is elevated 18-24 inches (it is built on posts on a slope) so there is access under the coop to rake it out or for chickens to scratch through the litter and also get some shade. "

What is you opinion of the this type of flooring set-up for the coop? What have you used for flooring for your coop? Has it been successful? If not, what would you change? Do you find that it's easier to sweep the coop out or have the droppings fall through the hardware cloth onto the ground?

Again, your advice and input are greatly appreciated-

Lydia

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

We tried 1/2 hardware cloth on our first dropping pit. it didnt work very good. In my opinion the holes are too small large poopies get hung up and it takes extra cleaning. We switched to regular 1 inch chicken wire over dropping pits. even better than wire over dropping pits is vinyl flooring. with a light coat of saw dust down all you have to do is sweep it up, it doesnt stick.

 

[ravenfeathers]

if chicken poop was smaller (and drier), i think this system would be great. unfortunately, i think you'll have a wire floor that's just clogged up with poo all the time and chickens with sloppy feet. i have this problem with my lone hen right now, who's living in a cage with 1/2 inch mesh floor. i gave up on hoping the poop would fall through into the sliding tray beneath and now put a thin layer of hay down that i can scraped out daily. for your coop, i'd go with a solid floor and some vinyl or lino.