Coop Run Flooring Suggestions

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

Putting your general location into your profile will help when you ask questions like this where climate matters. You said "Tennessee" but adding east, west, or central would be helpful -- I presume it's not the mountains since you don't get winter.

I lined the bottom of the smaller run with 1/4" hardware cloth and have been rinsing the majority of their poop every 2-3 days through the holes. Not certain if this is feasible in the long run though. Should I be putting something down?

Personally, I'd remove that hardware cloth on the ground ASAP. It's hard on their feet and the larger they get the less likely the poop is to pass through it.

Additionally, rinsing the poop out that way creates a favorable environment to grow bacteria -- causing odor and risking disease. The general rule of thumb is "dry chickens are healthy chickens".

What you need in your run -- after they've enjoyed destroying all the grass -- is some kind of dry organic material. Straw, pine straw, wood chips, wood shavings, dry fall leaves, other yard waste, etc. -- whatever is abundant and reasonably-priced in your area.

This material composts together with the poop and is, when well-managed, absolutely odor-free.

We are in Tennessee with little real winter and others here have said they haven't needed anything to heat the coops. We have small ventilation holes as noted on both sides of the coop...would this be enough?

Heat, not cold, will be your problem and, unfortunately, that coop is very ill-designed to cope with heat.

It doesn't have enough ventilation for even a northern climate, much less the Steamy Southeast.

Here is my article on hot climate chicken keeping: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

And my article on coop ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

Sometimes people turn their coop-and-run combo prefabs into just coop -- possibly a good idea for you since you already have an additional run. Here's a thread about this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-renovated-prefab-coop.1440258/

 

[rosemarythyme]

Personally, I'd remove that hardware cloth on the ground ASAP. It's hard on their feet and the larger they get the less likely the poop is to pass through it.

Additionally, rinsing the poop out that way creates a favorable environment to grow bacteria -- causing odor and risking disease. The general rule of thumb is "dry chickens are healthy chickens".

What you need in your run -- after they've enjoyed destroying all the grass -- is some kind of dry organic material. Straw, pine straw, wood chips, wood shavings, dry fall leaves, other yard waste, etc. -- whatever is abundant and reasonably-priced in your area.

This material composts together with the poop and is, when well-managed, absolutely odor-free.

Sometimes people turn their coop-and-run combo prefabs into just coop -- possibly a good idea for you since you already have an additional run. Here's a thread about this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-renovated-prefab-coop.1440258/

x2 all of this. As far as the coop itself, I was going to make the same recommendation, as it'll help with the ventilation issue, provide more space, and likely be easier on you as far as cleanouts.

Here's the original suggestion that led to that renovated coop in the link:
To turn it from 2 small "boxes" (tiny coop above tiny run) into 1 bigger "box" you'll want to remove as much of the inside coop wall as possible, plus the floor. Take out the old roosts too.

Nests might be able to stay as is, or may need to be relocated elsewhere or replaced - depends on the structure of the coop and how things inside stack up once done.

Run a new roost(s) lengthwise or widthwise across the newly open space, depending on how much roost is needed. Ideally you’d like 12” per bird but 10” can suffice in many cases.

Board up some of the external wire walls so that the roost area is protected from winds and rain. Do NOT fully cover up all the wire, you need ventilation and natural light, so at the very least a few inches under the roofline should remain open. If your climate allows for it, you can leave entire walls open with just the mesh, or make it convertible for the season by covering up open walls for winter, and then uncovering for summer.