Linoleum/Vinyl Flooring.....

[Mahlzeit]

I am going to have to re-plywood the floor of my coop in the near future and was thinking about putting a layer of linoleum down. Does anyone have any problems with chickens sliding on the floor with shavings on top? How about shoveling the shavings out of there. Does it scrape off the linoleum? Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[Omran]

I never used it but a lot of folks are using it and they seem to be very happy with it, and I really can't find anything wrong with it eather. go for it.

 

[Casey3043]

I put a very slick piece of vinyl down on the concrete floor of my new coop (just finished it). I have the new chicks in there. No room in the other coop for them. Yes it's a bit slippery with aspen shavings, but I am careful going in there. I don't plan to use a shovel, but rather my shop vac to clean up the shavings when they need to be replaced. Then I can just empty the vac into the compost pile.

 

[joanc]

We use a plastic shovel for cleaning and have not had any scrapes.

I have seen them skitter a couple of times when an older one chases a younger hen. Especially when the shavings are fresh and loose. We keep it about 4-6 inches deep and turn it over a couple times a week. Nobody has ever gotten hurt though.

We have 2 coops and both have linoleum floors-makes cleaning and sanitizing super easy.

good luck.

 

[ivan3]

A couple of inches of play sand over the linoleum (then add bedding) make it easier on the chook's and owner's legs (can then be added to the run when spring cleaning comes around - mix some DE in it when put down).

Turkeys and I no longer slide around.

 

[Chick N Ug]

We also have linoleum down in our coop. No issues with sliding since we keep several inches of bedding. We have a large snow shovel that we use to turn it, so we haven't scraped the flooring....(yet)

 

[Dr.Doorlock]

The one best thing I did for the floor of my coup was to make it removable. The bottom slides out so my hens can have a wire bottom in the summer. The other advantage I hadn't considered is how easy it is to clean and how cheap it is to replace. I use very thin 4 x 8 sheets of masonite for about $7. I cut off 1 foot so it fits the coup bottom and use the leftover as a squegee. It did take some planning to make sure nothing rests on the floor and the coup is the right size so I make only one cut. The one in there now has lasted months and i will soon remove it and let my girls be wire-walkers.

You can see this at my site, linked below.

 

[sandy sea]

I also use linoleum over a wood floor. I do the deep litter, pine shavings works great. No slipping at all.

 

[redoak]

I have sheet vinyl over a metal floor with a couple inches of bedding. The first couple days the floor is a little slippery until the chicken pack down the bedding some. I've been using a metal hoe to clean the coop and often have to scrape some poopy spots and I haven't scratched the vinyl yet. The sheet vinyl I used was middle cost stuff. I'd avoid the cheap of the cheap where you can tear a sample easy with your 2 hands.

 

[patandchickens]

I have vinyl flooring in most of my pens (because it's a converted dog kennel bldg and that's the way the dog people set it up)... I do find it slippery in places where the bedding gets pushed away, but as long as there is a good depth of bedding it's not a problem at all.

Pat