I am now questioning our coop floor.

[nakstk]

When we built our coop back in July for our 5 SS chicks my hubby had the idea that if we made the floor under the roost with chicken wire then it would be easier to clean up. That idea although it sounded great at the time now has me questioning if we made the right choice. After finding BYC and becoming addicted to it I have learn so much about chickens and coops. Here are a few pics of our coop while it was being built so you can get an idea of what I am talking about. If we need to change it Please let me know. I dont want to lose any chickens because of drafts.

this is the front of the coop note the chicken wire floor.

This is from the back looking forward at the roosts

and from the door looking back to the nest box you can see part of their roost.

 

[Beekissed]

From what I can see, you may have hens roosting in your next boxes or on their edges due to your roost being of similar height. The chicken wire on the floor will sag with time if you have standard sized birds, creating a dip in the middle of your squares of wire. The pressed board section of your coop floor may absorb quite a bit of moisture over time and start to hoove and grow mold.

Chicken wire isn't the most comfortable surface on which to walk, as toes and feet can slip into the holes and get caught. If you place bedding onto the solid section of the floor, it will migrate into the wired section and fall right through the holes.

If you live anywhere the wind blows strong and cold in the winter, this wire flooring will create drafts on your birds as they are roosting directly over it and the coop is small. No where to escape these drafts in your setup.

You could create a slide board that can be removed from the outside that will slide right into and over these wire floors during the winter. When you slide it out, the wall would scrape it off and the waste would fall onto the wires and produce your desired result. That would be one winter fix for this design and the board could be adjusted to allow for ventilation from below, as long as you have good ventilation along your roof to allow the air to flow and escape.

If you placed sealant on the pressboard, it could keep it from absorbing moisture from feces. The nest boxes could be replaced with a more shallow setup that would bring your nests lower than your roost and possibly encourage your birds to roost where they should.

Maybe those with similar setups and small type coops can help you more with this, but this is just things I see that I would change if it were mine.

 

[nakstk]

Thanks for the input. So far they do all roost on the roost. The nest box is about 6 inches below the roost should it be more then that? Its too late in the season to seal the press board flooring. Would it be okay to put some of those linoleum squares down or is the glue not good for them?

 

[nakstk]

I live in South West Washington state so its cold and rainy from about Oct til May. I live on a hill about the Columbia river so it does get windy up here too.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
No, it doesn't need to be more...from the pics it looked about 6 in. higher than the roost. You could do the squares or even one solid piece of linoleum. I would place additional glue at the edges of the squares if you use them.

The chickens won't be affected by the glue unless you leave a lot around the edges that they will pick at...even then it won't affect them much, I imagine. I had a flock eating a foam deer target before I discovered the fact...darn birds. Didn't hurt them at all.

 

[EweSheep]

Or use rubber mats.

 

[Ole rooster]

If you want to seal the floor with tile, the stickum tile squares won't do it. The press board you have is to rough for that type tile to work very well. You need to use the sheet linoleum stuff.

The roost needs to be as high as you can make.

With the chicken wire on the floor you are going to have some very unhappy hens. Walking on that stuff is not natural to their feet in any way. Plus if the coop is open around the bottom you're asking for predator problems big time.

And remember, we all learn from doing and re-doing. Mistakes makes it a learning process. Which is a good thing.

 

[nakstk]

Quote:
I have found that this is totally a learning process. It's so much fun though!! All the legs around the coop have chicken wire as well and it is buried under ground a few inches, so any predators would have to dig under that to get to the bottom of their coop. So far we have been okay but its only been 5.5 months.

 

[oldchickenlady]

I would replace the chicken wire with wood on the coop and don't use it on the run either. A dog or coon or even a possum can go through chicken wire like it is nothing. You have been very lucky so far, but something will get in sooner or later!

 

[teach1rusl]

Yeah, I doubt we'd have that famous Marilyn pic if it'd been an icy blast in winter time...lol.

I'm sure your system is great for the hot months though - cover that up for winter time.