Coop floors for wet climates...

[Poulets De Cajun]

For those of you living in Florida, the Gulf Coast, Seattle, or any other areas that receive a lot of rain, what kind of floor do you find to be the best in your coops?


I'm now living along the Texas Gulf Coast, and we get a surprising amount of rain in the spring/summer. I'm planning on starting a small, urban backyard flock in a month or two and I don't know what I want to build. I know I can't use shavings, or dirt because it would be a moldy, muddy mess. I've thought about doing a layered floor with limestone/sand/pea-gravel but wonder how hard that would be to clean. And I know that I definitely do not want to do the plywood floor with shavings that I've done in the past, because they are labor intensive.

Any suggestions that I may not have thought about yet?

 

[Time-Out]

I've got a concrete floor with shavings on top. It is definitely wet where I am. I think we invented the word lol

If I had all the money in the world, I'd build a raised coop, so it'd probably be a wooden floor with vinyl tiles and shavings on top. Being raised, it wouldn't rot like anything in contact with the ground does here.
What did you find labour intensive about it?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

My coops in the past were small, and very hard to clean out.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

We also rent our current residence, and although our landlord is a family member,, whatever I build has to be mobile enough for me to put on a trailer when/if we buy a house in the next few years. I'm thinking something along the lines of this...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/kona-chicken-ohanas-chicken-coop

 

[Time-Out]

I see what you mean. I have that issue at home. We're only renting, so anything we stick in the back garden has to be dismantle-able and return the garden to the state prior to moving in. Not so easy with a pond lol I'm still trying to figure out how to make it look nice. It looks like a septic tank right now.

The only thing I can think of is the witchita-type coop and run. Hopefully someone else will be a bit more helpful. Good luck.

 

[70monte]

Here is my elevated coop. It has a wood floor and I use chips on top of it. Coop is 8x4 and it doesn't take long to clean it out.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/waynetd/023-1.jpg

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

I've heard of people using sand - Not from a sand box, but from a river, or something much coarser. It cleans out like a litter box, which needs to be done every day, the chickens can eat the sand as grit, and take sand baths. Plus, it keeps their feet clean and their nails filed down. As soon as I get my new coop, which could be a while away, I plan on switching to sand. It might cost quite a bit in the beginning, but it only needs to be replaced once or twice a year, if I remember right. Plus, I have heard it soaks up any spills or wetness, which prevents bacteria from growing. I don't know too much about it yet, but it sounds terrific! I don't know if it would stick to the chickens muddy feet, though. Guess I need to do more research... I'll let you know if I find anything!

 

[saltnprepper]

I am just posting a video on this exact topic I will try to link it. I am in the Pacific North West, about 40 minutes south of Seattle. We get a lot of rain. I bought my coop and did not get a coat of paint on it before it started raining. I spent an entire wet season battling water trying to figure out the best way to keep them warm and dry. I tried pine shavings, straw and sand. I wanted the pine or straw for warmth I thought it would be warmer at night and hold heat. It mostly just holds moisture. I tired sand then the other two and went back to sand. I also got silicone bathroom caulk and started caulking every crack between boards. The floor will need to be replaced because water kept finding away to the flooring. I have been able to add paint on the odd sunny day and caulk to help and it is 90% better than it was. The sand is so easy to clean. I have three birds in a 3.5x3.5x3.5 foot box coop with an attached run that is always open so they have access to the yard to free range. I put an external laying box on as an addition also on the oddly warm day a few months ago. In my video you can see some of the water damage to the wood and some of where it is still getting wet but not nearly as much. I had a shelter over the whole thing and the wind tore it up. So I pulled out the old camping and hunting tarps and I stapled them around the coop for wind and rain protection. I also covered most of the run area so it really gives it a lot of protection. Today is sunny so I made a video after cleaning the coop and putting some new caulking on the front access door. I have not been able to do that door because its the one aren not covered by tarp and its always raining at some point in the 24 hours of the day. So I would suggest sand and some kind of protection from rain and wind. If your like us and renting I would go with tarps and staple gun them in place with bungie cords at the bottom so you can lift them to the top of the coop on good days and secure them to the bottom in bad weather. I am leaving my coop open to air out today because its nice right now but I will batten down the hatches in a few hours before the evening rain.

My youtube video