For those who have used vinyl flooring in the coop...

[chickflick]

Blue Moon....couldn't you run some caulk on the seam to seal it??

 

[patandchickens]

If poo/bedding gets 'glued on' to vinyl it may just mean you need deeper bedding overall, a droppings board under the roost, or to fix a leak. BTW, a small area of 'glued on' stuff comes off easily if you pour water on it, flop a rag on top to keep thw water from running off or evaporating, leave it a while, then scrape it off w/ a plastic dustpan. Any leftover water can either be dried off with rags, or absorbed with shavings which you then sweep up and discard outside.

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I cannot see that it is likely to matter too much, as long as it has a smooth shiny surface, is tightly installed, and sensibly treated.

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I am skeptical that the edges could be sealed well enough for waterproofing purposes. If you really wanted a drain I think the best approach would be to mimic the safe type of horse wash stall, with the floor sloped down to the midpoint of one exterior side and a flush-with-flooring hole cut thru exterior wall to let water drain away. But getting the floor graded properly would be a bugger.

Dunno how other people do it, but here is the deal on the vinyl in our chickens' winter quarters. their pen was originally several indoor dog pens in what used to be a dog boarding kennel building. The vinyl was already there when we bought the place. It is nailed along the edges onto plywood-on-a-stud-base floor. No trim of any kind along the edges where it meets the wall; metal angle trim covering edge of vinyl in doorways so you don't trip on the edge or pry it up when going in. The walls (up to 4') are covered in some weird heavy plastic panels, about 1/2" thick, to resist pawing by dogs.

The rest of the building's (concrete) floor does have a floor drain, but it is anyone's guess whether the actual pens were ever hosed. (I'd bet they were, but *I* sure wouldn't do it, at least not regularly!). The plywood under the vinyl is rather mungy looking (I've replaced some vinyl) but after all the kennel's been there for maybe 15+ years. The vinyl does not seem to have held up terrifically under dog use, as some has clearly been replaced/patchd/layered-over multiple times; the problems are peeling of edges when vinyl cracks at nail holes, and cracking where it was initially installed over a ridge in floor or with a 'hill' sticking up in the vinyl.

When I converted part for chickens, I had to re-vinyl because of age and because I removed the partitions between some pens leaving bare strips. I used a staple gun (liberally!), plus metal battens screwed across the vinyl every 4' to help keep it flatter. The vinyl is a tiny bit wavy and 'hilly' still, but I think it'll do for a good while. If the edges start breaking up, I will screw thru a batten or quarter-round to keep them in place.

The key, for me, is to keep LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of shavings on top of it. Not only is the vinyl really slippery for the chickens if hte bedding gets scratched away from it, *I* get to slipping on the vinyl when I walk in there if there is less than maybe 4-6" of packed shavings. And I have to be careful that if I swivel on the ball of my foot to turn around, I have to scuff the shavings back in place because it usually exposes the vinyl.

So on the whole I really like the vinyl but it does have its idiosyncrasies, mainly the thing about needing good bedding depth.


Pat

 

[eggydoom]

We put vinyl down in our coop when we built it this past April (one step ahead of a bathroom full of chicks, but that's another story...). I did have a clerk at the Home Despot give me the hairy eye because I was "testing" various vinyl samples. I figured if they gouged when I used a fingernail, they wouldn't stand a chance with a hen. Some were very inexpensive, but they were also very flimsy. I decided to go with one that cost a little more, but there are some nice thick (and expensive) types on the market if you want to splurge. I found a mid-range one that was a remnant, so I lucked out.

We nailed ours down and used scrap wood along the walls to hold it in place, we also ran the vinyl up the walls a few inches. We did have to cut ours to make it fit and we used caulking along the seam. I wouldn't do that again. We are using deep litter, but every now and then some pullet gets to digging and exposes the caulk line and tears a chunk out. So far, none has been eaten (as far as I can tell) but I'm sure it's not something they should ingest. I think the nails would have been enough since the floor is kept dry.

I haven't noticed any gouges or waste spots on the floor the few times I've pulled the litter back to check, but I suppose I'll see better this spring how it's held up. I do have a nice blunt-tined rake that I use to stir the litter, so far so good.

 

[ZuniBee]

I used the cheapest vinyl floor I could find at Lowes. I used the vinyl glue and glued it to the wood floor. I have had it for four months now and keep a deep bed of wood chips on in. I have cleaned it many times and I use a plastic shovel to scoop out the majority and then a broom to sweep it up. No problems what so ever.....it still looked brand new last time I cleaned it.

The key is to glue it down and use a lot of bedding.

 

[SeaChick]

We used a scrap of "real" linoleum (the kind made from -I think- resins?) and ran it about 3" up the sides (slit the corners and overlapped).

We use wood shavings, about 3" or so. We don't do deep litter. We have a poop board that catches most of the droppings (also covered, this time with cheap vinyl) but some droppings do get into the floor litter, since a light wakes the girls up several hours before we let them outside. We clean out the big poo globs every few days, and add a bit of shavings as needed. I was pretty amazed that I didn't need to really replace/clean out the litter for a couple of months. At that time it was easy as pie. I used a plastic snow shovel for most of it, then a whisk broom. The very few spots that had stuck to the linoleum came right up with the shovel or dustpan edge.

I'm sold!

 

[jubylives]

I used those sticky tiles from Lowes. They did well unttil my son went out to clean. He pushed one up with a shovel. I also used liquid nails to glue it down. I'm glad I went that way but when I sppok the chickens from opening a door too fast it's like someone teed off a golf ball in a tiled bathroom. Wood shavings and feathers flying everywhere. As far as cleaning, I put down a layer of wood shavings to dry the poo up and mostly clean my coop with a plastic shovel.

Jeremy

 

[lacyloo]

i want vinle now

 

[picklespickles]

i have a dirt floor but vinyl on the chopping shelf. for me, it is good to have an easy to clean surface. i really like it.

 

[stilwellchick]

We have vinyl flooring in our coop. Glued down tight and used high end remnant from Lowe's. When it is completely cleaned out I put down a thick dusting of PDZ then add the pine shavings, several inches thick. Sometimes I turn it over with a rake and sometimes I dust PDZ and or more litter. I keep the food and water outside of the coop except in cold winter months. When I go to clean it the floor looks like new and nothing sticks to it. The key to keeping a clean coop that doesn't smell is keeping everything dry.

 

[BirdBrain]

Stilwellchick--sounds like you have found the secret. That's great! I bet that in winter months you could fix a platform type box with a hardware cloth top that you could set your waterer on. That way any spills would fall through and not get into the coop. You would have to figure out how to seal it on the inside so spills don't leak out--they may just evaporate if they don't spill too much since they won't have the shavings to hold the moisture.