Floor of Hen House

[tarajz]

We bought a hen house that we assembled, but it has no flooring. The assumption is that the grass outside in the yard will be the flooring for the coop. Is that healthy for the chicks? What happens when it rains and the ground is wet and saturated- I know keeping them dry is important in preventing sickness. And wouldn't a grass floor make cleaning more difficult? I suppose I could rake the shavings out of the grass, but I still think residue from their feces would be embedded in the grass.

 

[Judy]

I have always had a dirt floor coop, and I've had coops off and on for years. (Grass won't last long.) The area needs to be a bit elevated, so that when it rains, water runs away fro the coop, instead of in. Then just use pine shavings or hay or whatever you use for litter, on the dirt.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Is this a chicken tractor that gets moved around?

Or is it going to stay in one place?

You don't want to put shavings on the wet ground, because they will turn moldy and stinky. This can make your chickens sick.

Edited to add: just saw Judy's post. I agree with shavings on ground of coop if ground is dry. But if it gets wet it gets nasty. We have a rainy winter all winter long and I now have switched to sand due to mold problems with shavings.

 

[lazy gardener]

A coop without floor would be great for the deep litter method. But, as Judy stated, it needs to be sited properly, and have good drainage. There are 2 other concerns that need to be addressed: #1: How will you keep the wood that is in contact with the ground from rotting? While pressure treated lumber seems like a no brainer, I would not choose to use it any where it contacts the ground or animals or people/plants have potential contact because of the arsenates that can leach out of it. Perhaps you can set it on cement blocks. #2: Such a building will be a prime target for predators. You can predator proof the building by putting a 1/2" hardware cloth skirt or apron to completely surround the building. Any predators that try to dig under will dig at the apron, and not be smart enough to move further out to start digging and avoid the hardware cloth.