Need advice on subfloor for shed to coop conversion..

[KathryninQuebec]

We recently finished our 2nd purpose built coop using all the information learned and mistakes made with the first! I am by no means an expert, but here is what I would do - Concrete in the floor - I love the deep litter method, but given that this is an existing structure, it will add stability, solve the wood on mud and rodent/critter entry through the bottom issues. We built a rabbit run and hutch this way from a kids climbing swing set thing and its worked great and lasted well. You can also slope the floor towards the door with the right thickness concrete and create channels for water run off. Next, I would build a new floor half way up. Add nest boxes to your 2nd floor and roosting perches higher than the boxes. A hatch in this floor can lead to the ground floor where you can have food and water. This will protect their food and water from poop and give you somewhere free from weather to have your food and water even after the run is built. We failed to think about that on our first one and cleaning poop out of nesting boxes, water and food was a daily chore. I'm adding a picture of the top floor of our coop - to the left you can see the where the nesting boxes are now. There is ventilation in the eves - that might be something you want to think about too. We put vinyl tile on the floor and its really easy to just use a hoe and scrape the straw and everything stinky out of there straight into the barrow to be dumped on the banana plants!

Yep we have a one piece vinyl floor in one of our coops. It cleans out sooo easy. I love it!