Hardware cloth as flooring???

[arlew0127]

We are about to start building our very first coop. I wanted to make cleaning it out as easy as possible. I wanted to know if it would be okay to use 1/4” hardware cloth on the floor of the closed in part of the coop. I was going to put some sort of catch pan underneath the wire for the poop to fall on. What are your thoughts on this? Is it okay for the chickens? I live in Wilmington, NC and the temp. here does not get that clod during the winter.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

The droppings won't fall through hardware cloth very well. I'd recommend a solid floor. Your birds will like it better and you'll find it easier to keep clean than wire. That's just my opinion, others may have wire and like it.

 

[arlew0127]

How often do you have to clean out the coop where they roost and drop there poop?

 

[matimeo]

I'd also suggest a solid floor. Poop won't go through the hardware cloth and will only make a mess. Cleaning up chicken poop is the only part I don't like about keeping chickens, except that it makes exceptional fertilizer for my garden.

 

[elmo]

Put your catch pan right under the roost and you've got a poop board/tray, easy to remove for cleaning. If you put the pan under the wire floor, the pan will stay pretty much empty because all of the droppings will catch on wire with 1/4" openings.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
I use plastic boot trays under the roosts, and I bring the trays out to my composter and dump out the contents each morning. A quick scrape and hose off, and then they go back into the coop. It takes me less than 5 minutes every morning.

I have sand on the floor of my coop, and for the occasional dropping that gets deposited on the floor, I use a reptile litter scoop taped to a long handle to pick the droppings out of the sand, leaving the sand behind.

You don't have to clean every day, of course, but I personally prefer to clean for a couple of minutes every day than have to face a big nasty hours long "spring" cleaning once or twice a year.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Have you tried using a poop board or tray under your roost? I love my plastic boot trays, and dump the contents out into my composter every morning, quick and easy.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
That's somewhat complicated for me. In the winter, my six girls roost in the section of the coop that has pine shavings on the floor. I only clean that about twice (about once every month). I have a small door that I can push the shavings out and into a wheelbarrow. Cleaning up then takes about 5-10 minutes. The rest of the year they roost in the area of their coop that is over dirt. When they are roosting there, I have a small plastic rake with which I rake up the droppings about every other day. That task takes about 2-3 minutes each time. For more clarity, you can see my set-up on my byc page.

How often you clean your coop will depend on your individual situation. How many birds will you have? Will you use the deep litter method (DLM) or perhaps a poop-board? Search those latter two terms for a better understanding of your options.

BTW, some of the best memories of my childhood were of days spent on Wrightsville Beach.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I'm so slow.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
I only have four birds. I have a solid wood floor covered with several inches of pine shavings. I also have a poop board under the roost. I put pine shavings on the poop board as well. Once a day I take an old trowel and an empty plastic flower pot and scoop off the poop from the board and any big wet pieces that hit the floor. I throw that in the compost pile.

I haven't down a complete cleaning of the coop since early September. I just throw down more shavings as needed, and kind of turn things over and sprinkle with DE to keep things dried out.

It's all very quick and easy. There's no smell. I'll do a thorough clean out in the spring.