Is Vinyl Flooring Safe for Coop?

[MicroFarmMom]

Okay I got the coop situation settled- got a HUGE wooden dog house from someone for free

it's 2.5x3x3.5! Now I know I will need to do a few things to it and one of them is decide what to scatter on the floor, or make the floor easier to clean while remaining predator proof. Is vinyl flooring safe? What about the types of paint you can use on the coop - is there something I should do special?

 

[Bleenie]

I have Linoleum in both my small coops & my brooder. when i clean out the bedding I can easily wipe/mop it down with bleach water to disinfect it if i need to. My interiors arent painted but I would like to. I would probably use something GLOSS so it would also be easy to clean.

 

[farmer_lew]

Linoleum is a great idea. Another option is to put newspaper down on the floor, then put your shavings, etc on top of that. When you clean out the coop, you can just roll it all up and put in your compost pile/bin.

 

[EweSheep]

Or a small piece of rubber mat, like a pick up truck bed mat or horse rubber mat. Those things I use on the floor of my coop are excellent! And yes, I live in the city too!

 

[elmo]

Linoleum and vinyl flooring are two different things:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linoleum

I wonder about offgassing from new vinyl flooring in an enclosed space and whether that could be a problem with chickens' sensitive respiratory systems. Personally, it didn't seem worth the extra trouble to put down a vinyl floor (plus the expense, since I didn't have any extra flooring around). I just painted the plywood floor with Kilz (that I did have left over) and called the job done. I don't use the deep litter method, though. I have sand over my floor and I scoop up droppings from the sand daily, so the coop floor stays nice and dry all the time.

 

[HEChicken]

I used vinyl flooring as the floor of mine. I got an A-Frame coop off Freecycle that had a floor of 1/4" plywood that was so rotted out I had no choice but to take it off. At first I thought I would have the coop directly on grass and just move it once a week, then scrape the droppings off the ground into the compost. The problem I found with this after about three weeks was that the droppings were difficult to remove from the grass. So I went with Plan B which was to cut a piece of vinyl flooring just a little bigger than the base of the coop and set it on the ground. The coop sits on the vinyl (not attached) and has been in a permanent location now for a year and a half. The vinyl makes it very easy to clean.

 

[Jenski]

I put down vinyl flooring in my newer coops, and caulked every nook and cranny with weatherproof caulk. I have found the caulk invaluable for preventing mite infestations, as mites love to live in cracks by day and crawl on your birds at night. Caulking and letting things air out really well before any birds move in is the best way I've found to reduce later maintenance. The coops are also very easy to clean with vinyl flooring! Shavings can be swept out with a whisk broom and kitty litter scoop when it's time to change them.

Good luck with your coop! Be sure to share your progress with us.

 

[wsdareme]

We put down vinyl flooring in our coop, too, and it sure makes cleaning it a LOT easier!. I use a snow shovel to strip all of my shavings, then, as Jenski noted, use a broom to sweep it clean. A couple of new bales of white shavings and we're good to go!

 

[chics in the sun]

I started off with large sheets of vinyl flooring that I took in and out and sprayed off with a hose. I got tired of hauling them back and forth, so I stuck them down to the floor and now I use a hoe to scrape them off into a bucket. Now and then I use the hose to spray them down, and a long handled brush to scrub any spots as needed.

 

[sgtmom52]

I have vinyl flooring and semi gloss paint in both of my coops. They make clean up a lot easier!