Flooring...will it work or no?

[Lucretia]

So, when we built our coop, we put down plywood flooring that ended up being not quite as sturdy as I wanted it. Well, for a while we simply laid down some of our extra scrap lumber and covered it over with shavings, which worked well enough. Only it kept getting shavings in the cracks and the kids would slosh water on the boards when filling the waterer, and the flooring "solution" just really didn't impress me. So we cleaned out the whole floor, relaid the scrap lumber, and set down two new pieces of plywood on top. Then we put down sticky tiles over it to make the floor easier to clean.

Everything went down great and it seemed to be a perfect solution. Then we put the shavings down and let the ladies back in...and it all looked fine until one took a few running steps and...slipped. Yep. It slips. The shavings slip on the tiles, and the ladies slip on the shavings.

Not too terribly of course, no one fell down or got scared or hurt herself or anything, but still! I'm worried now that this will be a problem! Was it a bad idea to put down the tiles? I really wanted something more or less waterproof to keep the boards from warping or rotting if they get wet, but was this the best solution? Anyone else have experience with using tiles? Any advice?

Poor ladies...they're awkward enough as it is. They don't need slippy shavings making things worse.

 

[Zahboo]

Do you think adding straw into the mix will help? My chickens and shavings don't slide.... I have vinyl on the floor... Of course I didn't use plywood, I used 1x6s for the underflooring

 

[Intheswamp]

Hmmm, I would have used a solid piece of linoleum to create a solid moisture seal rather than individual tiles. Later, if you desire, you can cover this with a piece of scrap linoleum.

Must been some mighty slick tiles there!

How deep is your shavings? I would think that 2-3 inches of shavings would be sufficient to stop most slipping/sliding.

Ed

 

[ams3651]

I have those tiles with shavings on top. I havent had any problem maybe once they get settled and stepped on and pooped on it wont be slippery.

 

[joanie_maine]

Actually, I love the rough concrete floor in my pens, but of course, the pens are in a garage.

My previous coop had a dirt floor, which worked fine with a lot of shavings.

I think the key to any floor is dryness, which means cleaning up around waterers and damp areas frequently.

Slippery is a hard thing to deal with, especially with chicks and young birds who need traction.

I hope you find a solution.

 

[patandchickens]

You may find the tiles do not stay stuck as time passes. But for now I see no reason not to leave them -- you just need deeper bedding, and pack it down a bit after putting fresh stuff in (before letting the chickens back in). If you have enough shavings in there and they're kind of snugly patted down rather than all loose and fluffy and new, it is not slippery. (Several of my pens have vinyl flooring, so I say this from experience). You may need to install a lip on the bottom of your chicken door so that the shavings don't all get kicked out, if it was originally cut flush with the floor.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat