Flooring

[spunkyfroggie]

Ok so we have built a new walk in coupe it is 4'x8'. We have a wood floor to which I will be putting laminate on for better cleaning. My question is what should I use on the top of that to gather the poop? Sand? Dirt? Straw? Pine shavings?

 

[Alaskan]

Lots of different opinions on that. It might be easier if you search through some of the other threads where similar questions were asked.


As a summary though:

Laminate can be slippery, so if that is what you use, you will need a deep litter so the chicks and then chickens don't slip about and hurt their legs. Also, some laminate might be liable to swelling and just getting ruined if water sits on it.

People use all sorts of different things on the floor...everyone has their own opinions.

I just read that one lady bought a plastic/rubber kind of car mat thing, and cut it to fit her coop floor. That would be ideal, but her coop is only 4x4, and yours is a bit bigger.

In my coops I have one with a painted floor, and the others have dirt floors. The painted plywood is holding up very nicely... I think it is 6 years old now. However, I try to never have water on it. The dirt floors are harder to deep clean, and not as safe predator wise, but work well for me.​

 

[missbecky]

My coop floor is plywood which I covered with rolled vinyl flooring. It was about $10.00 for a 6x10 roll -purchased at a hardware store. I love it because it is easy to clean, and keeps spilled water from dampening the coop. Microfiber cloth I keep on hand soaks it right up with no damage.

My chicks were vaccinated only with the Mareks vaccine. We are trying to raise them as organic as possible. Therefore in order to avoid coccidiosis without medicated feed, we allowed them to build natural immunities by not sterilizing the coop once they were moved in.

We use a 2-3 inch layer of pine shavings, and add more on top of that every week. I allow the coop to get plenty of air to make sure that their droppings dry. After a couple of months of going from brooder to coop I cleaned out the old shavings (My coop floor is 6x8 with 8 chickens which I allow to free range on fenced in property) ...put them in my compost, and replaced the coop with fresh new shavings.

Now at 3 months they are roosting... So I put a flat piece of wood 3x4 in diameter under their roost, and use a garden tool to scrape & scoop the poop off the board, and into a dust pan. That is whete they do the majority of the mess. If I see any big poops, or stinky evacuation droppings on the shavings I just scoop them up, and toss them into my dust pan for the compost. Then I'll scatter a few handfull of shavings on the floor.

If you're building natural immunities then you want to allow the coop floor to have just a little yuck, but no build up. If it stinks, or smells then you have let it get too dirty, or lack ventilation, and need to change it. I would give it a good sterilization, and airing out after that, but don't let your coop get to that point. It's unhealthy for you & your birds.

For the winter I will be adding a thick layer of straw to the coop floor to help with the cold. Especially since artificial heat has it's drawbacks.

 

[aart]

I used sheet vinyl over plywood also, no seams just one continuous sheet turned up on the sides 4-8" so any spills won't run off the sides. I use pine shavings for their superior absorptive qualities and it can be slippery, especially at first, but the birds get used to it and have seen no crippling injuries as a result after one year. I keep a large towel in the coop shed in case of a spill and soak it up asap, am using horizontal nipples now so much less chance of spills.

 

[spunkyfroggie]

At this moment I have not put the vinyl down we are just using shavings. It is still a work in progress. I was going to use the tiles but the going up 4-8" makes a lot of sense. We have tried the nipples and they won't use them. My husband has bought these cup things we will see if they work.

 

[aart]

At this moment I have not put the vinyl down we are just using shavings. It is still a work in progress. I was going to use the tiles but the going up 4-8" makes a lot of sense. We have tried the nipples and they won't use them. My husband has bought these cup things we will see if they work.

Cups and nipples take time to train to...and NO other water sources available until they get the hang of it....can take several days.
I've found younger birds adapt more quickly than older ones...hours compared to days.