Flooring for the coop

[Taj_MaChicken]

We have vinyl floor in our coop. The girls will eventually free range, and I didn't want to start a habit now just to break them of later.

We had a chickie that ate the pine shavings... serious constipation problems as a baby. I thought we were going to lose her at one point. It stunted her growth (she's one of the oldest, but she's like the runt now lol) because she wouldn't eat or drink. We literally had to feed and water her by hand.

Fast forward to now, she's outgrown it, but she still eats pine shavings. I notice her doing it when we clean the coop and I put fresh bedding under their roosts. But other than that she seems to eat food and forage like normal.

I'd hate for her to go back to all of those problems if she were offered 64 sqft of pine shavings. We clean their coop regularly, and it seems so easy to just sweep, scrape, and mop the floor.

Is there a benefit to having the pine shavings on the floor? They're really only in there to sleep and eat (from their regular feeder).

 

[rosemarythyme]

Have you tried other types of bedding? Main reasons to have bedding is for ease of clean up (it absorbs poop and you can simply remove bedding, versus having to scrape the floor clean) and for cushion, so when the birds jump off the roosts they don't land on a hard surface, which can cause leg or foot issues.

I use wood chips, mainly because it's free for me, and none of my chickens try to eat it (they also nibble on shavings). Sand is another possible option, or I've seen folks suggest everything from hemp to rice hulls to wood pellets...

 

[aart]

Your poll choices cracked.me.up!!

We clean their coop regularly, and it seems so easy to just sweep, scrape, and mop the floor.

You could do that...but it's gonna get 'old' pretty quick I would imagine.

I'd be leery of 'mopping', not good to introduce moisture into a coop,
(no matter how 'tight' you thing you vinyl is).

You could just scrape up the poops.
But I wouldn't let one 'chick eating shavings' event keep you from using them in the future.

 

[Taj_MaChicken]

Your poll choices cracked.me.up!!


You could do that...but it's gonna get 'old' pretty quick I would imagine.

I'd be leery of 'mopping', not good to introduce moisture into a coop,
(no matter how 'tight' you thing you vinyl is).

You could just scrape up the poops.
But I wouldn't let one 'chick eating shavings' event keep you from using them in the future.

I couldn't do a serious poll, so I just threw some random stuff in there for poops and giggles

Charlie is like a baby and dead set on putting ERRYTHANG in her mouth. I just can't go through the sleepless nights of a sick chick again... it made me want to start drinking... again.

 

[Parront]

Your poll choices cracked.me.up!!


You could do that...but it's gonna get 'old' pretty quick I would imagine.

I'd be leery of 'mopping', not good to introduce moisture into a coop,
(no matter how 'tight' you thing you vinyl is).

You could just scrape up the poops.
But I wouldn't let one 'chick eating shavings' event keep you from using them in the future.

X2 on mopping chicken coops! Never happen here! I go with the last answer!

 

[aart]

X2 on mopping chicken coops

You could probably get away with it in your climate...stuff would dry fast.

 

[Parront]

You could probably get away with it in your climate...stuff would dry fast.

Dry like cement on linoleum! Then when it rains, it is a monsoon in Aug, like a flood. Here, I want to have something for the dry poop to stick to so I can get it picked or scooped. I use a lot of newspaper, we still read our news that way here!