Dirt floor vs. raised wooden floor coop construction

[shmeggs]

my coop im using now has dirt floor with raised nest boxes. it has worked really well but the next coop I build will probably have raised wood floor maybe about foot off ground. I believe the raised wood floor style would be more secure.

 

[yogifink]

Quote:
Here are a few good reads on that: Basically, straw is horrible with drainage, molds and can harbor mites.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/105417/bedding-straw-vs-pine-shavings

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/779837/straw-or-pine-shavings-in-coop

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/833167/wood-shavings-vs-chopped-straw-bedding

 

[Mahlzeit]

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.

The blackjack doesn't scrape up off the floor when you shovel out the chicken droppings? I am in the process of buying a house and have been contemplating what to put on the floor of my new chicken coop.I was thinking of using the linoleum. The one I have now is just plywood not coated or anything and it has lasted me over 7 years now but it's finally starting to get soft in a couple spots.

 

[Mahlzeit]

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.

I wouldn't go with the dirt floor myself because of rats and mice. They burrow and unless you lay hardware cloth under the dirt of your coop they could just burrow right into your coop eat your feed and leave their nasty droppings in there.

 

[shmeggs]

did you floor hold moisture from the chicken droppings

 

[JackE]

The blackjack doesn't scrape up off the floor when you shovel out the chicken droppings? I am in the process of buying a house and have been contemplating what to put on the floor of my new chicken coop.I was thinking of using the linoleum. The one I have now is just plywood not coated or anything and it has lasted me over 7 years now but it's finally starting to get soft in a couple spots.

No, it does not scrape off, and I use an old coal shovel to clean out my coop. This stuff is practically bulletproof. It was designed to protect a roof in all extremes of weather. So inside a coop under shavings, or sand(Thats what I have in the front of my coop) is nothing to it. The whole floor is sealed under a coat of rubber.

 

[1muttsfan]

My coop is also raised, the soil here is poor-draining clay and rock and would be difficult to level, and flooding could be a problem especially in the spring with snow melt or during heavy rains. Floor is covered with vinyl flooring, 4 years old with minimal wear. Deep litter with pine shavings, cleaned once yearly.

 

[Chemguy]

We built our coop raised off of the ground for two main reasons: 1) To avoid needing to level an area and to deal with water issues on the uphill side of the coop and 2) To avoid any potential problems with voles, rabbits, feral cats and groundhogs setting up shop under the coop.

We used self-adhesive tiles on the floor of the coop, and continued about 12" up the inside walls. I will be removing the tiles next spring, and will replace them with a single sheet of linoleum; the tiles get pulled up easily and trap all manner of coop debris under the lifted edges. Or, based on the helpful info in this thread, I may instead use the roofing sealer that was mentioned earlier.

 

[4 the Birds]

A raised coop floor off of the dirt ground is the way to go even if only 3 or 4 inches up. It prevents water drainage problems (high and dry!), keeps pests/predators at bay, and prevents the chickens from scratching down through the bedding to the dirt. Often huge coops have dirt floors since it can be cost prohibitive for a floor build.

 

[aceoftrumps]

I have a plywood floor off the ground on concrete pier blocks from Home Depot.....but I wish I would have gone higher. Nonetheless, I used OSB for the floor painted with porch paint, two coats on both sides. I use a roost on one side of the house and nest boxes on the other side, feed storage on the back wall. I use the deep litter method under the roost as well as the floor. I sprinkle de to keep out insects like mites. No odors but I also have good ventilation.

A little corn thrown on the floor keeps it stirred up. Trouble free. Of course, I'm lucky enough to have a friend that has a wood working shop and get cypress shavings for free!

Ace