Coop flooring

[DaveGreen]

Hi everyone. I'm in the process of designing my coop. It's an elevated 4x8. I have the design done but have been agonizing over what to use on the floor. I want it to be as easy as possible to just wipe clean. But I'm beginning to suffer sensory overload. Don't like the cost of vinyl, paint will wear. Rubber roof coating doesn't seem very healthy and the fact it comes in a can big enough to cover the whole neighborhood. I though about aluminum sheeting and found one on-line exactly the size of my floor (4x8) for $72... and shipping wasn't bad. Only $362.00 to get it to me in Oregon :0.. YOU KIDDING? Anyhooo I think I may have found my answer.
But before I plop down a whopping $23 to completely cover my floor, I'd like people smarter than me (which is like 100% of you) to give me their opinions. Does this sound like a viable option or am I missing a critical component in my judgement?
Appreciate your thoughts
Dave

 

[DaveGreen]

Holy Cow I forgot the link. I told you I was losing my mind.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-16-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Plastic-Panel-63003/202090190

 

[DaveGreen]

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[ChickenMammX4]

Honestly, I wouldn't want flooring that was smooth. Chicken poo is wet, slimy and stinky. With poo on that smooth surface, it's going to be a mess. The floor of our coop is OSB painted with DeckOver. There is about 4" of pine shavings on the floor. There is a poopboard under the roost filled with PDZ (a granulated material that absorbs odor and moisture). The poo on the poopboard gets sifted out daily and the coop floor only needs to be cleaned twice a year.

The coop is 8' x 9' and we have 6 hens.

 

[CluckerCottage]

Honestly, I wouldn't want flooring that was smooth. Chicken poo is wet, slimy and stinky. With poo on that smooth surface, it's going to be a mess. The floor of our coop is OSB painted with DeckOver. There is about 4" of pine shavings on the floor. There is a poopboard under the roost filled with PDZ (a granulated material that absorbs odor and moisture). The poo on the poopboard gets sifted out daily and the coop floor only needs to be cleaned twice a year.

The coop is 8' x 9' and we have 6 hens.

X2

 

[Teila]

Hi there DaveGreen

Sorry, I am not sure where you hail from as your location is not mentioned on your profile.

Being in a tropical climate, we opted for slatted timber flooring in our elevated coop and deep litter method in the run. Each morning I simply dustpan and brush the overnight poops and follow that with a wipe clean.

The floor slides out completely and each weekend I pull it out and give it a wash with hot soapy water and leave it to dry before putting back.

Simple and quick.

The beauty of it sliding out means I can stand up in the coop also to scrub walls etc when needed. However, as mentioned, we are tropical and this would not be suitable for all.

One half of the floor:


Two pieces in position during the build:



The coop now .. it is raised about 3ft .. so, with the floor out, I simply duck under and then stand upright in the coop to reach all areas:

 

[DaveGreen]

Thanks for the great info. I'm in Northern California.
Ok first off the slippery issue.
If it's covered in pine shavings is that a big issue?
secondly, With the timbers they have to be laid out first, then cleaned themselves. Adding to the work. And they're gonna decay right?
Thirdly DeckOver is a sealer? So it's epoxy or resin based. Which means I'd have to roll it and wait 6 millennium for it to dry. And I'm not convinced it's non toxic or safe.
What if I gave the plastic sheet a light rough 80 grit sanding. Would that help?
I hate to sound lazy but truth be told, I'm so lazy I married a pregnant woman.

Thanks again for the inputs
Dave

 

[ChickenMammX4]

Thanks for the great info. I'm in Northern California.

Ok first off the slippery issue.
If it's covered in pine shavings is that a big issue?
secondly, With the timbers they have to be laid out first, then cleaned themselves. Adding to the work. And they're gonna decay right?
Thirdly DeckOver is a sealer? So it's epoxy or resin based. Which means I'd have to roll it and wait 6 millennium for it to dry. And I'm not convinced it's non toxic or safe.
What if I gave the plastic sheet a light rough 80 grit sanding. Would that help?
I hate to sound lazy but truth be told, I'm so lazy I married a pregnant woman.

Thanks again for the inputs
Dave

Not sure how the pine shavings would be over the plastic panel. With the thick layer of pine shavings, nothing sticks anyway. It dries up and disappears.

DeckOver is a product made by Behr (sold at Home Depot). It has a thick/almost rubber/sandy finish. We used it on our pool deck and had some left over. It comes in many colors and can be used on wood, wood products and concrete. I'd say we let it dry 24 hours. Yes, we rolled it on. As for being toxic, I can't say but since the floor has a thick layer of pine shavings, the chickens aren't really in close contact with it.

I'm for easy chicken care, sifting the poo from the poopboard takes about 10 minutes a day, cleaning the out the coop twice a year, maybe a hour+. In return we get delicious eggs!

 

[aart]

I used thick, heavy duty, foam backed, vinyl sheet flooring, bent up walls 2-8" to contain any spills(has never really happened).
I love it, have never 'washed' it, poop doesn't really stick to it, can be scraped off when dry......and my goal is to keep coop as dry as possible.
Covered with 1-4" of kiln dried, large flake, pine shavings that I totally change out 1-2 times a year...yes, it can be slippery for the birds, but after a year not so much.

That plastic panel is basically fiberglass, not sure I'd want that in my coop...if it break or starts to break down, could be a real mess of sharp stuff.