Dirt Floor?

[ARose4Heaven]

My flock expanded by 64 birds at Christmastime and my cozy little 8x10 coop is no longer anywhere near big enough. My poor birds are temporarily housed in a "tent city". This Iowa winter has not been kind, and most have stopped laying. So time is of the essense to get them in their new home.

My hubby has generously given me his abandoned hog shed. It is 48 x 20 and needs to have the electric rewired, roof reinsulated and be sectioned off for various breeds/genders of birds. The floor is dirt. What can I do short of pouring concrete to make this usable? Is it feasable to use it with dirt floor, just pour on the shavings and hang up all the waterers to keep things dry? Is that an option that I can use for the first year? I really don't have the funds to get everything else set up and a new floor all in the same year.

 

[Tala]

Well I have a dirt floor and use deep litter on it.

Other people don't like it though. Guess it's up to you.

 

[ARose4Heaven]

I had though that perhaps dirt would be OK, since the shavings would keep the surface dry and all the yucky stuff could just work itself into the soil underneath. If it gets too deep, I can just shovel it all out and start over, right?

 

[Madcap621]

somewhere here is a post [several in fact] about sand floors over dirt. I think I would consider that, with or w/out deep litter. Do a Search. I believe it is in the TN mountains - not as cold as Iowa but................

edited for spelling

 

[jnjross]

i hated it! my coop floor turned into quick sand, i'm still missing a shoe.

try litter on gravel, just until you can afford concrete

 

[FlashPointFarm]

Or you could try throwing a stall mat down, or lenolium?

 

[Tala]

Quote:
I don't think everybody's dirt is gonna turn into quick sand.
My yard is kinda sandy with red sand and some clay mixed, it drains really well. Even when it rained 8" overnight and flooded my coop it didn't turn into "quick sand."

Me thinks it depends on the composition of your local soil

You could also think about putting down some of those rubber drainage mats under your bedding --- like this stuff https://www.teksupply.com/farm/supp...terials-ts1_building_flooring_2;pg104147.html -- in the paper catalog they recommend putting it down under gravel to keep driveways from washing away, I'm seriously considering using that method instead of concrete whenever I'm able to fix my driveway.

 

[HenSpa]

I came upon my flooring dilemma by chance. I started a huge raised bed gardening area about a year ago, fenced in with 9 big boxes in it and very fine gravel around the rest of the fenced-in area. Was very pretty.

Well, my big dreams of beautiful veges were soon shot. I got pregnant and one of the things I couldn't even look at was vegetables. Made me sick every time. I had the most gorgeous lettuce you've ever seen and I had to let it go to pot; gave some away.

We decided to use the space, which was soon becoming a weed nightmare, and moved our chicken tractor in there permanently after we cleared some plant stuff out. They love it! The hens keep the raised bed boxes pristine, love the dirt baths (in high quality dirt since I composed my own mixture). We throw their treats in there, too and let them forage. The surrounding gravel keeps the poop down and the mud also. A bit unusual but has worked out great.

No veges, but happier chickens was the result of our garden plan.

On the other hand, my Dad's beautiful grass in his pasture is completely gone from his hens foraging in his fenced-in hen area. So I prefer the way ours ended up.

 

[HenSpa]

Whoops...."I came upon my flooring dilemma by chance." supposed to be "I solved my flooring dilemma by chance."

 

[kcsunshine]

Mine are on dirt. We threw several inches of leaves down to keep them warmer this winter and on the coldest nights I threw down some straw. They scratch and forage and generally do just fine. When I clean it out this spring, it will all go on the compost pile and this summer I'll throw in grass clippings. Only problem is keeping leaves out of their waterer - putting it up higher helped.