Dirt floor vs. raised wooden floor coop construction

[Granny Hatchet]

thats good to know. some of those stains are impossible . i have to wet it and let it soften and wet again and scrap again..... you get the idea. sometimes takes me 4 hrs to do 8 by 16ft.

 

[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??????

 

[GardenFae]

Thanks for the answers, JackE. Coop planning involves so many details!

 

[UseEveryColor]

Great thread. I'm jotting down notes as I am building my second coop after the new year. I'm going with raised wood floor and I like the idea of the Blackjack #57. We're very wet here in Florida so I will need that wood protected from all our moisture.

 

[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.

 

[DesertSouthwest]

Our chicken coop is built on the ground, hard dirt called caliche. When we built it, the 1/4' hardwire cloth goes a foot to the ground to prevent critters from getting in.
Drip watering system and hanging feeders keep the food/water source clean.

Since chickens like to dust bathe, this works well! You can throw food grade diotomaceous earth on the ground too.

If you live in the colder climates, throw in straw and let them work it on the ground. This also acts up as an insulation during cold weather. Make sure you clean the coop every 2 weeks, and compost the straw for your plants.

When it comes to raised wooden floor, the only thing that comes to mind is how to clean underneath.
Are you going to put a trap to catch all the droppings?

Washing it down with hose is problematic since you want to keep the area dry and prevent ammonia build up.

Just some things to consider. Best of luck to you.

 

[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.

 

[Kasc]

I had wondered about those burning pellets, I used some similar when they were chicks in the house until they were old enough to go outside. I haven't checked the labels do they add any chemicals to them in their processing? I'll have to check and see how much they cover, my coop 1 is where I might try them..Thanks for the idea..