Easy to clean material for coop floor- HELP!

[sammin71]

I have heard of people mixing a little sand in with the paint to help with traction

 

[THINGUM]

I'm ok with formica, but i used it for the pan on a potters wheel i built. and it eventually came up. There isn't a lot of water ever in the pan but the clay is constantly damp. I don't know what caused it to fail. But i do know this (and i would guess, so do you.) I WOULD NEVER USE PARTICLE BOARD AROUND WATER. ESPECIALLY A FLOOR. If it fails then what?

Quote: Build her hell for stout, pretty always takes care of herself. Charlie Settlemeyer

 

[OldMacDonald]

The idea would be that the Formica would not let water get to the particle board. That's how a kitchen counted is kept safe.

 

[ephraim-em]

How about rough sanding the formica you have? It would still be water proof and the roughness would help hold the shavings from slipping around so much. I am installing linoleum and while it is not as slippery as formica, I still plan and "scratching" the surface just a bit to make it not so slippery. Just an idea....

 

[journey11]

I think it would work...for awhile at least. Dump in some pine shavings and traction ceases to be an issue. However, moisture in the air outside during different seasons of weather is what will make that particle board expand and rot. It's unlikely that it would last more than a couple years or so.... If you do it for now, just make sure you don't build the rest of the coop around it to the point that you couldn't replace it when it does eventually fail.

 

[crj]

I have your answer. You can put down any floor you want. What I do??? I use my feed bags. Yep, I cut the string at the bottom and open up the bag along the seam. It's glued so it's easy. Now, you can use the paper bags or the bags that don't rip. I put hay ove the bags in one coop and shavings in another and sometimes I use both. I put the bags under the roosts or where they poop the most. So, when I have to clean up I just grab the bag, roll it with everything in it and put it in my wheelbarrow and dump. What's nice about these bags is you can clean them off if you want or you can throw them away. Your choice. I use them more then once. Makes for a fast clean up and no scraping the floors like I use too. The birds don't seem to mind them at all.

 

[THINGUM]

Quote:
Yes that's the idea alright, but the reality is "water is the enemy", what about dampness form underneath. I just don't want to see you build anything you're going to have to re-build in a few years. The whole structure sits on the floor. I forgot to mention that I'm using 5/8" plywood with vinyl on my floor. I understand the desire to "use what you have" but I would use the formica on the walls behind the roost and in the poop boards, where you can get to 'em when necessary.

 

[Buff-Island-Australorp]

I recently put formica down on the floor of my 4' x 8' coop. How can that not be good for chickens, since it is soooo durable for counter tops? My chicks are only 3 weeks old, and when we open the walk-through door, they scatter, and slip and slide as they try to retreat to the run, outside. I have pine shavings, but only a couple inches thick. Before I put the shavings down, and first moved the chicks in there, they pooped on the floor, and the stuff just slid right off after it dried. I didn't glue it down, I used sheet metal screws with hex heads on them, so I can easly pull it up and replace it, or do a thorough cleaning.
I'm a newbie to the whole chicken thing, and from what I have gathered on here, some seem to over-analyze things too much. If my chicken slips on the formica, it doesn't mean it's bad for my coop floor. I understand that them coming off the roost, they may slip, but I think I'll consider it trial and error as a newbie, and go from there.

My suggestion to the poster is, if you have the material and you want to utilize "on hand material", GO FOR IT. I don't think your chickens will mind it.

 

[audioguy]

Would a good piece of exterior plywood, sealed and painted, be a way to go? Its a low tech approach, but once sealed, it can take hosing off to clean, the bedding should stay put, and the girls would have some traction too.
Someone posted plans from the Purina website that I plan to use for our coop. We start building it the end of this month! I have a neighbor that just demolished his deck and has a lot of wood that I can have.
I will post pics at the plans progress!

 

[MeowCluckBark]

I have a few extra boxes of laminate oak flooring from remodeling my house. I'm using that for the floor in my coop but I've purchased a gripper mix-in and some polycrylic finish to mix it in with. I'll do a coat of that over the pieces when they're all set in place. It will also help with moisture control and seal it up better. The gripper stuff is like $5 at home depot and can be mixed in with any paint or lacquer