Help me decide on a floor type...

[mchandler]

warning: newbie...that being said;

Been doing a lot of research through books and here and it seems like the following floor types are available:

wood, linolium, concrete, rhino liner, horse stall mats. They also all seem to require some sort of pine bedding, sand etc on top. My main concern is ease of cleaning and not ness. the money. My coop idea ( in the design phase) was to have a barn style coop - about 8 x 8 for 8 chickens. then have a hinged flap at the bottom of the back of the coop that was 4 inches high that start on the floor and the width of the coop. this would allow me to just open the flap push the muck out the back or use a garden hose and squirt it all out into a low wall bin that was outside or something.

So here's my question. Is there any floor surface or substrate that doesnt require a pine bedding or sand fill ( ie: something that needs to be replaced all the time)? Looking for ease of cleaning (ie squirting waste out the back of coop) and the no-hassle of not lugging pine/sand from the store every so often.

thanks,
Matt

 

[Judy]

I have an 11x17 dirt floor coop. I have had several dirt floor coops over the years, and wouldn't want any other kind. In the old days around here they never used litter over the dirt. I do, but it is only changed once or twice a year, when wanted for the compost. It is VERY breezy in my coop, and the poop just dries, turns into dust and then to soil. I do add a few pine shavings now and then, particularly in the summer (along with some ag pelletized lime) when the flies are around, or if it's been raining for days on end and it's getting musty in there. In a year I probably use 5-6 bags of pine shavings. At $5 or so a bag, that's not a lot. Every week or two I stir it around a bit with a rake. I think I put 4 or 5 bags down initially.

The disadvantage, of course, is there is no way to disinfect the floor if it is ever necessary. So far it hasn't been.

 

[patandchickens]

It is only even vaguely-practical to try to avoid bedding altogether if you are in a climate that never, EVER gets down near freezing. If you are in that situation and have AMPLE WATER SUPPLY (eg. Louisiana yes; extreme southern Arizona no) you could consider a hose-based cleaning system. I am not a fan of this because it is wasteful of clean water and requires you to build an exceptionally rot-resistant coop; but, it can be done. People tend to be much better satisfied with the ease of hose-cleaning of a wire floor btw rather than a solid floor. You may THINK you can "hose and push the muck" across the floor, but, not so well. Chicken poo is not like mammalian poo. For one thing there are two kinds of it, the normal poo and the very liquid stenchy melted-chocolate-lookin' cecal poos.

If you live somewhere that gets down towards freezing for even part of the year, it is best to simply accept that you will be using bedding. It need NOT be expensive and need NOT necessarily involve frequent cleaning if you set it up right (right for your personal goals, I mean).

If you are doing a solid floor with bedding, a raised wooden floor (i.e. coop raised a foot or more above the ground, and has a wooden floor up there) is the best for any location with ANY POSSIBLE question of occasionally flooding; a concrete slab is probably the ideal option for guaranteed-flooding-free sites, but is rather expensive. Very large, well-set pavers are a close second choice. The only reason to use stall mats would be if you have a bunch lying around unused and if you DO then hey send them to me for my horse shed

A dirt or tamped-stonedust floor is also a reasonable option BUT is more prone to wetness problems AND you have to do extra work to predatorproof and rodentproof it.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[elmo]

Bedding inside the coop serves two functions: it makes cleaning droppings easier (because they don't stick to the flooring) and it cushions and protects the chickens' feet. A bare concrete floor is too rough, and a bare wood floor might be too slippery.

A bare floor would probably need to be cleaned daily, because otherwise you'd just have accumulating piles of feces. The people who use the deep litter method, with pine shavings on the floor, simply rake and turn the shavings so the feces is mixed in and begins to compost. Without bedding, though, you couldn't do that.

Cecal droppings (the wet ones) wouldn't scrape or sweep out, so you'd have to hose down the floor. Wet chicken droppings stink, so you'd be creating the conditions for odor with your cleaning method.

I use sand in my coops and runs. I also use a droppings board (in my case, plastic boot trays) under the roosts. This makes it very easy to remove the nighttime droppings every day by simply taking the trays over to the composter, dumping/scraping them out. A quick hose down of the trays and they go back into the coop, clean. I pick out any stray droppings from the sand on the coop floor with a reptile litter scoop attached to a long handle so I don't have to bend down. Very little sand is lost this way, and over two years I have only added a couple of bags of additional sand to each of the runs, none to the coop.

Sand tends to coat and dry out even the cecal droppings, making them odorless. And the chickens love dustbathing it it.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Raised wood floors provide predator protection, extra run space underneath out of sun and rain, and easy access to coop without bending over much. Most people use pine chips on the floor. Cheap, easy to clean up, poop adhearse and can be turned/mixed well and wood chips provide insulation to coop floor. Spring cleaning time or if ever in need of disinfecting your system can be made easier with using linolium on the floor. Even easier than this would be to use laquer or a urethane deck paint. This can easily be applied without primer and up your walls for water impervious no stick finish aiding in quick hose outs for that once in a year deep clean.

My vote is for raised wood floor and 4 to 10" pine shavings.

 

[eggsforsale]

I agree with ddawn. If you want a coop that you maintain every day...great! Put in some kind of solid surface floor with some bedding on top, poop board under the roosts. If you want a coop that you can visit every day but only gets major attention a few times a year...dirt floor with sand, bedding whatever. I don't have time or energy or desire to scrape a board every day or maintain a spotless shiney home for my chickens. Deep litter method, dirt floor is for me. A few times a year-especially in the spring I rake out bedding and poo and put it in the garden or compost bin, and add fresh bedding. The rest of the time I just stir it up a few times a week, occasionally add more bedding. I dump pesticide free grass clippings in the run once a week. Chickens love to eat it, and scratch it around. It keeps the run drier, and soaks up droppings and looks good also. My coop looks very nice from the outside, lots of optional ventilation on the inside. Smells a bit at times inside because after all...there is a lot of pooping going on in there, but does great when I take a few minutes, grab the rake and stir it up. Too many chores around the place to give too much time to the chickens.