flooring--in a partitioned shed/coop

[achake01]

Hi,
I'm converting part of a shed to a hen house. The hen house will be screened off from the rest of the (pretty large) shed, with a separate entrance for both human and chickens. My question deals with flooring. I've read about how concrete would be a better alternative to the existing plywood flooring that I have, so I was thinking of putting down concrete in just the hen house section (in other words, removing the existing plywood and replacing with a concrete foundation).
Would that be OK, or do you think I should put concrete down the entire base of the shed. (I'm just wondering if rodents could just as easily eat their way through the wood floor of the shed, despite the fact that it's concrete in the hen house section).

Any advice appreciated and--
Thanks!
Anne Marie

 

[DADDYS HENS]

Hello Anne Marie,
Just read your post about flooring. I have to ask is your shed heated? Using concrete may be a good base floor but I'm in the concrete business and one thing about concrete is it holds moisture. This may cause a mold issue or keep the coop to cool in winter. (if you live where is cold) Another thing about concrete is it is very pores (little holes in the Crete even if smooth) so urine may settle to just under the surface of the concrete and start to smell bad in summer heat. My coop I did the same thing that you have done, I split my shed in have, put a divider wall up to separate the coop from the shed part, and all I have for flooring is plywood with linoleum down. I live near the woods and such and have never had a rodent problem in my coop and its been a year now. also my coop does not sit on the ground its on cement blocks so if ever there was an issue with mice i could put traps under my coop. I hope this info helps you but want to let you know im not an expert.
Sincerely Ray

 

[achake01]

Thanks, Ray.
That's really helpful. The floor of my shed is also raised on concrete blocks, and I was thinking (hoping) about linoleum on the floor as an effective alternative (that's also cheaper). It sounds like that has worked for you.
Best,
Anne Marie.

 

[DADDYS HENS]

hello Anne Marie,
yes it has worked for me so far it is very easy to clean up the coop with the linoleum on the floor. Also in the summer (last June-July and August) I put my hens out of the coop took bleach and hot water and a mop and disinfected the coop floor. I have had no problems with my hens as far as using the bleach i just let the coop air out before putting the hens back in. Also last week end I cleaned out to coop for the first time from winter and did the same cleaning method and while cleaning out the coop I looked for mice and found none at all. If you have any other questions I would be free to give it a shot.
Sincerely Ray