Hello from Northwest Arkansas!

Date sort Score sort
CardinalCroft said:
Hello,
My name is Laura. I have been wanting to become a chicken keeper for quite a long time. We finally found 6 acres in the area town we have lived in for 19 years and we are almost finished with our new home build. We have a spot cleared already for the coop and that will be one of the first things on our list to work on after we get moved in and get my koi pond settled. (We already have koi and they are in a temporary structure until new pond is ready.) Because of the koi pond and lots of predators in our area, included our own viscous French bulldog, I have opted to do a coop and large run and keep our chickens in the run, not free range. I have been working on design/layout of coop and researching care for a few years but I need all the help I can get so I have joined this forum. I’m looking to start with about 10 hens, no rooster. Looking for colorful egg layers, good with heat and cold since we have quite a large range of temps here and hopefully friendly birds.
I am thinking of doing a concrete floor with a rubber mat over it for the chicken coop. Anyone have any advice on that? Also, I am super interested in the deep litter method. So have been researching that a lot. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Welcome to BYC!!
 
CardinalCroft said:
..
I am thinking of doing a concrete floor with a rubber mat over it for the chicken coop. Anyone have any advice on that? Also, I am super interested in the deep litter method. So have been researching that a lot. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Welcome!

They are likely to tear up the mat and eat it if they can get to it. However, with deep enough bedding and enough space, they may not get to it. Mine is a foot or more deep and they dig in it a little. And a little more if I kick some of the bedding over some scattered seeds but they don't bother to go that deep. One of mine liked to dig much more than the rest. Your milage may vary.

On the other hand, why do you want a rubber mat? If it is for cushioning, deep bedding/litter will do that at least as effectively.

Several years ago, there was a lot of confusion between noncomposting litter and composting litter. People decided to call one deep bedding and the other deep litter. The main difference is deep bedding is dry. Deep litter has enough moisture that it will compost.

Deep litter is nearly impossible to do in a coop that does not have a dirt floor. It requires enough but not too much water to be added so it is throughout the pile (well, it is a pile of sorts and I didn't find a better word for it) as well as soil (not dirt) added to supply the microorganisms needed.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom