Coop questions

[SBaltz]

Hello,
my son built a coop several years ago for a Grange project and we are finally putting it to use. It has the central area under the roosting bars as 1/2”x1” hardware cloth stapled to the floor with nothing below it, the intention was the poop would fall through. I have been seeing more and more of suggestions that this is not likely to happen and I wanted to ask here. The coop itself stands raised, so critters pushing up the hardware cloth from underneath would have a hard time. Am I overly concerned or should I look to replace the hardware cloth with a solid floor? The location in the photo is not where it is officially located, just there while we were getting our area set up.
thanks.

 

[Flockincrazy]

I would replace the cloth with wire but thats me

 

[aart]

It has the central area under the roosting bars as 1/2”x1” hardware cloth stapled to the floor with nothing below it, the intention was the poop would fall through. I have been seeing more and more of suggestions that this is not likely to happen and I wanted to ask here.

Yeah, it won't, without some 'help'(scraping).

1/2" x 1" mesh probably has heavier gauge wire than hardware cloth does.

Think you may have other concerns with that coop...I see no ventilation?
Is there an access door to get in there?
More pics, inside and out, might help garner suggestions/solutions.

Oh, and..... Welcome to BYC! @SBaltz
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[SBaltz]

I would replace the cloth with wire but thats me

It is wire. I thought it was called hardware cloth, but maybe this is not, it is 1”x1/2” very stiff heavy wire.

 

[SBaltz]

Yeah, it won't, without some 'help'(scraping).

1/2" x 1" mesh probably has heavier gauge wire than hardware cloth does.

Think you may have other concerns with that coop...I see no ventilation?
Is there an access door to get in there?
More pics, inside and out, might help garner suggestions/solutions.

Oh, and..... Welcome to BYC! @SBaltz
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 2174507

I will see about getting more pics. I am not concerned about ventilation with the wire open floor, but I would be if the wire was not there. The photo is more on an angle, the coop door is pretty large, there is open space between the eaves and the horizontal planks (and spaces between the planks in some areas... not big enough for any rodent, but the boards shrank and the fourth grader hand holding it while screwing things in was not as steady as a grown adult). We cut an access door in the back that is runs practically the entire width and height between the legs! Makes it very easy to get in there to clean.
the construction of the coop is a rather “rough” design, set for fourth graders to pretty much easily build it, with adult supervision. We almost rebuilt it, but he is proud of it and so we want to use it for a while for sure.

I am in mid northern California, smack between Sacramento and San Francisco, but not near water. We have daily breezes, but the air is definitely not moist like coastal and usually not humid. Thanks for the directions on the account, I did not see that before! Our weather is dry during the summer and wet usually between January through March or April.

 

[Flockincrazy]

Gotcha ya nothing is gonna go through that

 

[SBaltz]

Major disclaimer... our run is NOT done, and the coop itself has some finishing work To be done. The nesting box roof pieces are currently off while I was painting them, and the door on the back has funky hinges cus my husband didn’t have all the boards back on when he put the hinges on and mis aligned them, we laugh at it. The coop itself stands about 3’ off the ground and top of it is just higher than me (I am 5’3”). The front door opening is 11x17.
The run is going to be fully covered and hardware clothed. We had it all set and leveled and I realized we had put it at an odd angle compared to the rest of the yard, so we re angled it and paused. We will be getting it re leveled and set position wise it this week. The roofing material just arrived, and we are waiting on the hardware cloth.
the last photo is the henhouse this was designed from.
I might be adding full walls for the nesting boxes, the wood inside the henhouse is for part of the frame we are putting on the front door area for their “tunnel” that attaches the henhouse to the run itself. Ladder still needs to be built.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yeah you're going to have issues with poop getting caught on the wire. Some will go through, but wet sticky poop is going to get partially stuck, as well as just plain ol' big poops. I mean you can try it, but once the chickens get past chick-hood it has the potential of becoming a mess.

I'd still add more ventilation, you want openings up higher, not on the floor only. Looks like there's a little gap left up under the peaks of the roof? Maybe take out the board below as well on both sides to help open that up?

 

[aart]

If you want to keep the wire floor, just make sure it is firmly attached.
Screws with washers would be best, IMO.
Or trim boards with screws.
Either may make cleaning trickier.

Good the soffits are open, but they should be covered with mesh.

 

[SBaltz]

Thanks. I am going to add another opening, like the original. i am going to keep the wire floor as it is for now, but we may decide to change it if it more work than anticipated.