Linoleum?

[crazygoatlady915]

Hello!
I'm super new to chickens, and I found a (hopefully) great coop plan here on BYC, however, one thing I am unsure about is whether or not I should put linoleum in their coop as the flooring, because I have heard about all the bad things it can do to their feet!

HELP!!

 

[jennh]

Quote:
I have vinyl floor in my girl's coop. It's so easy to clean, since it's slippery. I just use a grain or snow shovel and scoop it out. I keep hay on the bottom all the time. I haven't had a problem yet, and my oldest are 5 yrs old. JMHO

 

[Doopy]

I think if you do it right their feet will never touch the flooring. The vinyl or linoleum flooring is just to make coop cleaning easier. You will still have to use some type of bedding on top of the flooring. A minimum of 2" of straw or wood shavings (4" or more is preferred) should be put on top of the flooring.

I have had chickens in our coop for 12 years and my floor is just bare wood. I always have 4" to 6" of chainsaw shavings in there. Even deeper in the coldest months of winter. The chickens seem to do OK and it's free for me. The farmer down the road has a son who cuts and sells lumber and I have all the shavings I want.

 

[PapaChaz]

i built a new coop last week, i haven't put any vinyl/linoleum down yet, but simply because i haven't found any at a price i want to pay! it will definitely make it easier to clean! i put a false floor in that i can slide out, scrap/sweep/spray all the poo n goo off and slide it back in!

you won't go wrong putting it in, but you will need to put the bedding down as described in the post above!

 

[patandchickens]

I am not sure what "all bad things it can do to their feet" you've heard of -- I cannot think of a single one except that if you have insufficient bedding atop it, it can be slippery -- but I assure you that WITH SUFFICIENT BEDDING on top, it is 100% fine.

That said I also do not believe it really has any meaningful advantage over just well-painted plywood floor with the same am't of bedding on it.

But htere is nothing WRONG with well-bedded linoleum or vinyl.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[EweSheep]

I've used horse rubber mats or if small enough, I use truck bed rubber mats. Both work well if you have a habit of gouging floors and lineoum do break down eventually with wear and tear faster than rubber mats.

 

[THINGUM]

You might consider "wrapping" the vinyl up the walls 6" to 10" to make a pool of sorts. you would be able to hose it and squeegee it right out the door. Cut a 2X2 at a 45 degree angle length wise to give support where the wall meets the floor. Holding the (glued) vinyl at the top edge can be done with wooden "streamline" floor trim.
Vinyl is essentially plastic, and plastics shrink over time. Eventually the vinyl wants to curl up and pull away at the edges. Some sort of trim around the perimeter (be it horizontal or vertical) necessary.
The result of all this is the elimination of an area that can harbor mites and other bugs, or water, all of which cause wood to rot.

Quote: Build her hell for stout, "pretty" always takes care of herself. ...Charlie Settlemeyer

 

[JimWWhite]

We bought some cheap linoleum tiles at Lowes and put them down in our coop. They seem to work pretty well. They were self adhesive but Teresa put down tile mastic first and then laid the squares down and pressed them in. We use a bale of pine shavings in the coop and clean it out every couple of weeks and the floor still looks pretty good. I did notice one where I must have caught the edge with the shovel that I'll need to replace the next time I pressure wash the inside of the coop.

 

[AlienChick]

Yes, painting the floor is way cheaper, but if you can get some vinyl flooring for free, then get some.

The only problem with the vinyl that I've noticed is that it gets really yucky underneath the vinyl over time.

I just helped a friend pull up her vinyl flooring after just three years, and it was quite disgusting.

For my floor I simply bought a gallon of cheap glossy paint for $5 and painted the floor.

It provides the very same slick surface making litter cleanup easy.

It's all up to you what you want to use since the chickens won't mind at all.

 

[chickerdoodle]

I love my vinyl flooring!

I use about 3-4 inches of shavings over it and its not slick and no poo gets on the flooring! My henhouse floor is 32" off the ground and I pick the poo out every other day or so and every 2-3 weeks I change all of it. It takes MINUTES to just swish out the shavings! I also used porch paint (very glossy and easy to clean) on the walls of the hen house too. Take a look at my BYC coop page to see if you like it. I know only having 4 hens does cut down on the mess but I bet it works for a few more too.