Dirt floor vs. raised wooden floor coop construction

[dandefrancis]

We are in the process of designing and building a new coop for our flock of 20 birds. I see some coops that are raised off the ground with a wooden floor and some that have no other floor inside but the dirt itself and are built directly on the ground with only the four walls and the roof of course.

I will be using the deep litter method with pine shavings and would like to hear some comments and thoughts from others who have built a coop.

We live in West Virginia and the soil is mostly clay.

Any help and design ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JackE]

My coop is built with a raised wooden floor. It is built on slope, just over a foot off the ground at the low side. A foot and a half on the high side. Building the raised coop was a lot easier than leveling off a big chunk of ground. Another reason it is raised, I can easily see what is going on under the coop. Rats, mice and other pest like to set up housekeeping in hidden secure places. And a coop with a wood floor built sitting directly on the ground perfectly provides that.
I use pine shavings, and I totally clean out the coop twice a year. In between those cleanings I add fresh shavings as needed. The shavings can get kind of deep in there between cleanings. So to protect the plywood floor, I use a rubberized roof coat product from Lowes(Blackjack #57) This stuff, unlike vinyl or linoleum, becomes part of the floor, protecting it from everything. Nothing gets under it. It seals the gap where the walls meet the floor. This stuff has been down in my coop going on 4yrs, and it looks as good as the day I put in down. IMO, it is the BEST wood floor protector for a coop.

 

[Arielle]

I'll just jump in with my 2 cents.

I have both types of floors, and I much prefer the dirt floor. In regard to the deep litter I like it better than the monthly clean out. I seem to be using less bedding than when I clean it out regularly. ANd my labor is less. I just add material, though I expect to remove some at some point when it is well decayed. Also the DL on the ground is more reactive than when on a floor. IT decays faster. THe DL on a raised floor seems to take much longer for the appropriate bugs to find their way into the litter.

DL needs a special way to manage; it is very different than a monthly clean out. I like it-- if I small anything as for ammonia I know I need to add material immediately. I use leaves and shavings. And toss in some corn to encourage mixing the material up.

IF you go DL besure to account for the deep material like 8-10+ inches as the flooring-- pop doors high enough to keep the litter in.

Have you read the Deep Litter thread??????

 

[JackE]

i want to do this too. can you tell me drying time to keep chickens out and what you put it down with? how hard is it to use? and will mice chew through? what is the difference between it and the more expensive one? too many questions.sorry

I put it down in the spring, the temp was in the high 60s-70s, and it was dry within 24hrs. To apply, I stirred well(I mean it, stir well, it's a big bucket) then I just dumped a big dollop on the floor and pushed it around with a paint roller on a stick. Then dumped more as I went through the coop. I put it down thick, it all settles out anyway. You can't get easier than that to do a coop floor. No measuring and cutting and fitting vinyl or linoleum, and stapling it down. Then doing the same thing a few years later when it craps out. I read here about one guy who fit and installed linoleum, then a few days later watched his chickens merrily shred and tear it all up.
I don't know about mice chewing through, they may. I don't have any rodent problems in my coop, so I don't really have a answer for that. As far as the difference between the Blackjack#57 and the more expensive stuff. I don't know, I got the cheapest roofcoat they had, and it has worked great for me.

 

[Lizard Lady]

This is a great question! I'm interested in extending my coop and am planning on adding quite a few more birds. I've wondered about this myself. The main thing I guess I'm curious about is whether there is a higher risk of any form of diseases (my area got hit with Parvo and other animal diseases this past summer), would it be more dangerous in regards to predators, and is there a risk of high humidity. Look forward to others' answers.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i have never used it but i imagine it would have to be replaced over time. as far as mites, they hide in the cracks of wood, just about anywhere im sure they would find under straw just as an inviting place to be

 

[Our Roost]

What a great article to "sound off" on! We ( I ) constructed an 8 x16 ft. coop on top of a dirt floor and used 1500 lbs of concrete for corner and center suports for it to sit on. Plus I trenched around the outsides and used 8 inch aluminum siding scraps and pea gravel to keep out pesky predators. It also kept the rain runoff from entering the inside of the coop. Mostly dry. All went well until that first winter when I added straw to the floor as bedding and attempted the deep llitter method. Come spring and warmer weather it had packed down about 3 inches deep with chicken poo, and chicken feed and mixed in with the dirt. Think about the odor coming from compost and multiply it by 10! It took me almost a week of spare time to shovel it out down to barren dirt again. Obviously I didn't deep litter properly. The question in our minds was a wood floor or cement to rectify the problem! Since it was a permenent location, cement won out. I put in a PVC drain pipe leading outside so we could hose the inside of the coop down in the spring and summer. It works awesome! I still line the floor with straw but am sweeping it up instead of composting and shoveling it out is sooo much easier and more sanitary. Way the costs of wood verses cement and you wont notice much of a difference in cost, but you will be totally much happier with the maintenance. I

 

[lauries]

I live in SE Houston area, warmer temps, reasonably flat ground and coop area not subject to flood. We converted part of an old barn into a chicken coop and added a large outside run. And, yes you have to bury the wire cloth 8-12" into the ground along all walls and runs/fences. We also used wire cloth for run and even covering top of run (totally enclosed) and window openings. We are using a dirt floor but for inside the coop itself we brought in over a yard of masonry/morter sand-make it 4-5 in deep. It's very clean sand unlike bank sand which contains alot of clay. Masonry sand doesn't cling to you or the chickens-shakes right off. You can sift it just like cat litter to separate poop from sand. I used to bring in hay to spread on top of it for litter but after months of chickens burying it in the sand, clean up was harder separating the hay buried 3-4 inches into sand. I quit spreading the hay after 1st year & clean up is alot easier. I have added some more sand this year to compensate for loss during clean up. I protect all my feed and scratch by putting bags into metal trash cans-have never had a big rodent problem in coop even tho surrounded by fields. My brand new 2013 Honda Pilot's wiring under the hood last winter suffered more rodent damage than anything else. Rodent chewing your wiring is not a warranty covered repair. But I'm better prepared this winter.

 

[Kasc]

We opted for dirt covered by thick straw, for the covered areas and dirt for the play pen.. The straw decomposes easily mixed with the chicken droppings and leaf litter.

We built our 'Coop" in stages, we didn't realize how much room chickens need..We have a Very Large yard and we originally built a 6'x8' 6 sided coop for our 5 little chickens in the garden (40' x 80') fenced area. Coop 1 made from 4x4 posts. 2x4 frame with 1/2" hardware cloth wire. We dug down a foot for the bottom wire and re-filled it with dirt. I didn't want to worry about critters digging under..
All sides are hardware cloth as well with a full size door for easy access and cleaning. A solid slightly angled roof to control run off.. I thought that would be overkill for the 5 little fluff balls I bought. Then they grew up..

So we added a 6x8' run I decided not to go overboard with this addition so 4 x 4 posts,2x4 frame, 1" chick wire with a solid tilted roof, no wire on the bottom. Again a full size door for access and a small Chicken door between the two areas so I could allow them to use both without having to figure out how to move them. They loved it, their nesting areas are in coop 1 which I can secure completely if the raccoons are around, no mice or other critters are going to get in.

Food hangs from a feeder suspended from a hook on an L brace from one of the 4x4's Water container sits on an upside down 5 Gallon Bucket to keep it clean. If I put it lower it gets dirty from all their scratching. I have a feeder containing oyster shell on the side wire and a flock block on a small stand for them to peck.

All was well in the world, we let them free range in the garden area. and they quickly had it dug up. All plants gone. Amazing how much and how fast the 5 darlings could tear it down.
We were going to be gone for a couple weeks and decided they would need more room for a fully functional coop so we doubled it plus a little.. we call this addition the Play Pen..
no wire on the bottom, 1" chick wire sides and top. 4x4 posts ,2x4 frame, we moved the second door to the outside of the Play pen and took down the remainder of that front wall. so they have a large area to Play in, we can section an area off to grow grass if we want while they dig up the rest.

In rainy and or cold weather we put straw down thickly in the two covered areas and a tarp across the one side to help block the wind.Works well. They have plenty of room and we can still have a garden without them digging it up.

We let them in the fenced back yard to dig worms, eat bugs and eat grass and seeds. They love being under the Rhodies, must be a lot of bugs there. They love to dig up anything with moss on it..lots of bugs under it. I have a small decorative fence around part of the back yard, they walk right thought it so next spring I plan to back the little fence with a roll of 1" chick wire to keep them inside it and make an open run for them around that part to keep the bugs down. We have a couple roost bars around for them to use. They love to roost in the sun.

Our neighbors have had a good time watching us learn about chickens.I didn't know how much personality and curiosity they have.They are always showing off, following my husband and I around as we work in the yard.
Guess that about covers it, we originally got chickens for tilling the garden, and a few eggs it's just my husband and I. We don't need many..Got much more than we bargained for, have shared with the neighbors.. but it has been great.We will get a few more in about a year to keep things going. Merry Christmas..

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

I have a raised coop and use the deep litter method too. I installed vinyl flooring on the floor and up the walls about 6". The litter is about 8" deep consisting of wood burning pellets that have been wet and broken down to heavy saw dust then dried in open air. This catches any moisture before it ever gets down to the vinyl flooring so I doubt I will need to replace it any time soon. The 'girls' do most of the stirring for me so the litter is turned over often. I've used it for almost a year and couldn't imagine using any other method.

The one thing I like about the raised coop is that the hens don't lose the footprint space of the coop, they can walk right under it. This gives them the added benefit of protection from the elements year round, as well as a great place for dust baths in the extra sand I put under the coop.