Easy to clean material for coop floor- HELP!

[aggie9296]

The Formica is free. Paint the bottom and sides and the particle board will last a long time. Install it in a way that if and/or when it rots, you can replace it. I would not pass up free building materials on the theory that it won't last forever. Nothing will.

And adult chickens do fine on a slippery painted wood floor, so Formica should not be a problem. They are just walking to get to box or coop, not doing yoga.

The vinyl siding would also work, but you'd have to have a sturdy base. The siding on the outside walls or roof would help waterproof it and make it look pretty I'm sure.

 

[OldMacDonald]

Hey aggie- tell me more about your meal worm colony!

 

[aggie9296]

i sent you a PM about the worms. never done that so I hope it goes thru. if not let me know.

 

[shanefus]

I bought Chicks last week on an impulse
Hey a buck a chick, thats cheap.
Not thinking how much a coop was going to cost me.
So far I have $300 in materials and i'm not finished yet.
don't get discoraged, I have a tendency to go overboard.

I Put chicken wire across the floor from the outside
so preditors could not push up through.
Winter I drop 1 1/2 precut foam inbetween the tracks
and layed 1/8 shower board on the floor.
Very light, waterproof, and does not need a thick
backing to give it stiffness.
I can slid the whole floor out with 3 fingers to clean.

~Shane

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:

Congrats on the new chicks.

 

[OldMacDonald]

shanefus - I hear a lot of predators like raccoons can tear right through chicken wire. You may want to look into that before you lose your chickens!

 

[VelvettFog]

I used vinal flooring. I also plan on using shower-surround sheets for the inside walls. Pop in a floor drain and I should be able to hot-hose the thing out in the spring time

 

[Lionheart360]

The flooring in my 4x8 coop is regular plywood but I use regular baged sand from home depot (NOT playground sand) with different sized pebbles. About 4-5 inches deep. The poop kinda balls up in the sand making it so easy just to rake up into a wheelbarrel. But you do have to overturn the sand every now and then, but my chickens love bathing in it, and makes great grit for them to eat, and explore in!

 

[Soraza]

Still reading the rest of the posts. I don't think the sliding around is an issue for the structure, but for the long term health of the chickens. Imagine spending your life on ice skates- you'd eventually have joint issues that would cause you issues especially falling and getting up all the time.
Slippery floors give large dogs joint problems over time, since they are slipping to sit up, get up, etc I imagine the same would be for chickens.
I'm looking to build my first coop and are looking for ideas that are easy to clean. I wonder if there is some way to adhere a layer of sand to the slippery surface- It is a trick I was told to do for my deck (mix sand in with the stain).