Flooring advice needed

[pseudoyams]

Im almost done with my coop and am looking to put in some flooring. Im looking to do this at cheap as possible. I bought some 12x12" linoleum self-adhesive tiles to lay on the floor as they were on sale for $0.44 per sq ft. Though, Im not sure if these would be a good option now. Im worried about them becoming unstuck and the likes. They are also shiny and Im afraid that the chickens would slip all over them. I would use some liquid nails on the tiles as well to help them stay put, but still not sure on them. Is there any other cheap options you guys have used? What do you think about the self-adhesive tiles I got? Is there something that might be ok that is like a "paint" or something for the flooring? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks-
Rob

 

[cherylcohen]

Is this for their sleeping area? If so we have lino squares in a part of ours and we cover the entire floor with pine shavings - catches the poo

 

[patandchickens]

The simplest thing, which works real well for me, is just to prime and paint the floor (using several thin coats, not fewer thicker coats -- thick coats of paint get peely real fast) with something appropriate. I like semigloss exterior latex, whatever color(s) you can scrounge remnants or mistints of.

If you want to put vinyl on, you can (and i have some of that too). You can use the peel-and-stick tiles but just be aware they may not stay there forever, especially if you tend to run a shovel or the points of a manure fork or other implement over them on a regular basis.

The slipperiness thing is avoided by making sure there is sufficient depth of bedding. On a fairly slippery floor like some vinyls, you may have to deliberately stomp it down the first time you bed, so they don't just scatter it all over with their feet going down to the slick vinyl. Once the bedding is "established", though, if you start getting bare spots and slipping, just redistribute it and/or top it up with more.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Nostalchic]

I have read others on this site who used the self stick tiles and found that with all the scratching the chickens do, they came loose, and they ended up having to do the floor over (one of those "things I wish I had done differently" comments in the coops section). I think that if you used additional glue, and then bedded deeply over the tiles, it would probably work, but you might be able to find linoleum scraps at a carpet/flooring store or construction recycle store for almost nothing, and that works very well. I have linoleum in my coop and it is slippery, but I keep the bedding on top pretty deep and so there's no problem.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I used the 12X12 peel and stick tiles with no problems at all. easy to put down, easy to clean. we do have wood shavings and DE sprinkled over it, sweeps right up.

 

[Peeplperson]

I use a vinyl flooring remnant I found at Home Depot and put DE and a layer of pine shavings on top so it's not slippery. I did not attach the flooring so I can just pick it up (with all the shavings & poo) & dump everything right into the compost heap every so often. Works great.

 

[bonnylass79]

We used those self adhesive squares in both of our coops and the nest boxes and no problem so far. Makes cleaning really easy. Our coops are small, not even tall enough to walk in. We bed deep and probably strip it out about once a month. My guys spend most of their time outside.