Horse mats for floor of coop?

[bruceha2000]

The floor of the stall I am converting to a chicken coop is rubber horse mat over sand. This seemed a terrific system to keep, easy cleaning and all. However a friend thinks I should take the mats up because the chicken manure will ruin them. Does anyone know if this is true? Seems like if a 1400 pound horse can poop and pee gallons on these mats, a few chickens is nothing.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[bruceha2000]

We just moved to this farm in November and my daughter and I researched many hour on how we wanted to best utilize the beautiful barn we now have.

Me too! Well, except it was Nov of 2011 and my "new" barn isn't in great shape, but it is historic

Half was built between 1820 and 1840, the rest apparently taken off a larger barn and moved to be attached to the original, probably originally built around 1870-1880.

But I had the same issue, a barn with acreage and "what the heck do I do with it?" Can't just let it sit, how horribly wasteful. I'm not an "estate" kind of guy who wants to look at acres and acres of manicured lawn. Besides the condition of the barns, I have this issue of a daughter who is an emotional vegetarian. That means we have a farm where we can not raise any animals that will be eaten by anyone.

That leaves bees for honey, chickens for eggs and fiber animals for, well fiber. Until the barns are repaired, I am limited to my chickens because I really don't have time to figure out bees right now. And since it turns out the house needs serious work, the barns will have to wait until the money fairy flies over and drops a bundle on us.

If you are converting a stall, plan to use a lot of 1/2" hardware cloth to keep predators out. I figured I didn't have to deal with the floor since the horse mats are there but small rodents figured out where the seam was between the mats and the wall and were making use of the free food. I wasn't horribly worried about that but then last November we saw an ermine (white weasel - winter coloring) by the house. They wouldn't have ANY problem following the holes made by the mice and voles, just a little extra digging, so I picked up the mats (dang are they heavy and unwieldy) and attached hardware cloth to the walls and across the floor, the put the mats back down. No more rodent holes.

Bruce

 

[joan1708]

I have horse mats in my coop and use fine shavings. the finer shavings allow me to use a cat litter scoop to get the over-night poop out. I use the bigger flakes in the run were I use the deep litter method and don't pick out the poop. Those bags are compression packed and they last much longer than you would think. Of course I only have 3 little hens.

I also use horse mats in the back floor of my truck (I have a tacoma extended cab) for my dog. When I take her to the park, she gets filthy and wet from swimming in the lakes. I can just hose her and the mat off when we get home. I love that stuff.

 

[4 the Birds]

No problem... mopping the mats daily sounds like alot of work. You may try some bedding on the floor sometime to see how that works for you as well. Good Luck!

 

[bruceha2000]

I agree with John. Cleaning them daily will get old. Fast. If you don't clean them daily it will stink to high heaven. I don't think I would consider rubber mats only unless I could hose them off. A sponge mop won't last long rubbing back and forth on rubber and you will be there all day trying to "pick up" all the poop with that or a string mop. Chickens poop wherever they happen to be, not all in one easy to clean place.

Bruce

 

[Murphyslaw123]

My birds live in our barn, in a box stall with rubber mats on the floor. I have about 6-10" of straw and hay over it. Daily I clean up visible poop (it takes 30 seconds to do that) and I toss it into the corner, below the roost bars, where we use the deep litter method. I empty that area every 2-3 months. No issues so far. It's been very easy to keep clean.

 

[Going Quackers]

Also the slippery factor.. you'd be on your bum quite a bit when you stepped on those droppings lol, honestly they are best with some bedding now you don't have to bed as deep, i don't practice a deep bedding method just enough to keep them covered, i pick clean daily, that is just my way.

 

[bruceha2000]

Old farm places are so cool! the house was built in 1910, and has so much character, updated mechanics but kept the great woodwork.

Oh, you have a new house

Bruce

 

[bruceha2000]

My "soon to be 18 and off to college in the Fall" daughter wants us to get some horses. She said she'd ride them when she is home on breaks.

Yeah, right, like I need to feed a hay burner so she can show up once in a while and ride it. If we get anything, it will be fiber animals that at least give a LITTLE back for their keep.

Bruce

 

[Melabella]

Horse mats are the greatest. Chicken waste will not break them down any more than horse manure/urine will.