Needing ideas and advice: Concrete floor and I already hate pine shavings

[StaffordshireLady]

Those do work great when they are available. They were practically giving them away one year at my feed store one year and I loved them

They are seasonal, because we need to dehull the rice before dry and scorching heat of Indian summer. The dry weather causes the rice grains to break in the process. So we buy/gather the hulls from the mills in bulk. I myself cultivate paddy, but we do not mill them anymore.
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Everyday you learn something new. Thank you for your imput.

 

[SubArcticFowl]

You might want to try wooden pellets (they sell them for wood burning stoves) as they are highly absorbent and a little neater. I use them in the brooder for my meat birds.

Following as I am planning on building an underdeck coop on a concrete floor. I also plan on using wood pellets. Wood pellets are what I use to heat my house and I get them delivered in bulk to my house into a 2 metric tonne hopper. Straw is trucked a long way and costs $30/bale. Wood pellets smell great, soak up a lot of moisture, and then just turn into sawdust.

 

[aart]

We take off our shoes at the entry point. We have one of those mud room rubber pads but for some reason the shavings are even in my kitchen. LOL

Someone's not wiping their feet?

 

[EggWalrus]

Where do you get pine straw? Now I wonder what is regular straw...

Most Lowe's, Home Depot, and TSC carry pine straw. Pine straw comes from the needles of pine trees. There are various kinds of straw, wheat straw from what's left of wheat plants with berries removed, most straw comes from the thick stems of various tall grasses. Hay is just long cut grass that has been baled.
Avoid hay at all costs for bedding, It stays wet and rots quick. Starts sinking fast as bedding.
Straws being thicker and hollow absorbs more water but dries quicker.
Pine straw in my experience is tougher and lasts longer and just makes a better being until you can build up a deep litter bed.
Deep litter is the way to go!
Hope this helps some.

 

[Lizzy733]

I've never been able to try sand, as my door to the coop swings inwards. I can easily push it open through straw, but I sand would be difficult. I can see where sand would be easier to clean up poop from, provided it stays dry.

Try paving stones under the door to allow for the swing in - you may occasionally need to sweep it, but should help keep the doorway clearer. Is this a prefab style coop? You could raise it all up in a box frame and treat it like a raised garden bed. If it's super dry, soil may become quite dusty though, and that could be an annoying problem being kicked around by the girls. Sand will end up being kicked out as well, but won't linger in the air like dry dirt can.
As concrete is porous, it's going to be really tricky to clean, even blasting it with a hose. For the roosting area, you might want to put down something easier to tidy up after like tile, linoleum or pond liner. It'll definitely need bedding if you go this route to keep it from being a slipping hazard, so that would be a clean as you go solution. You could still do the same if you raise it up in a boxand fill it with soil - you might want to as well if you're concerned for the look of the concrete long-term as it might stain.

 

[Morrigan]

Try paving stones under the door to allow for the swing in - you may occasionally need to sweep it, but should help keep the doorway clearer.

I'm not the OP, so I don't know their set up. In my case, the coop is a framed building, built on a concrete pad, not a pre-fab. It's probably similar to the OP garage in that respect. The door is tightly fitted with a weatherproof strip along the bottom. There is only a few mm of clearance over the coop floor when I swing it it, so pavers wouldn't work. Sometimes I think about resetting the door, so it swings outwards, but I'm kind of used to my system by now.

 

[FredsGobblers]

I have to learn how to bolt down 2x4's into concrete so I can make them rooms.

Something like this. You build the wall and stand it up. Shoot nails through the bottom board into concrete. https://www.amazon.com/ITW-Brands-40066-Caliber-Trigger/dp/B002GCU3SO

 

[Kabootar]

Sorry, what's a paddy?

unhusked rice.

 

[aart]

Sorry, what's a paddy?

A paddy is a 'field' where they grow rice.

 

[Colez]

With a bit of imagination and a bit of money, you could transform that garage into a palace combo of coop and run.

Basically, you have the solid structure to start from. What I would do is look at it as a year-round coop and run and divide the space into a sleeping area that is enclosed and a run area where you will cut some nice big windows and maybe even a couple of sky lights for natural light and stellar ventilation. You can then add an outdoor open run later.

For bedding, I suggest construction sand. I had shavings and hated them consistently for the entire time. When I removed every last shaving and installed sand, I've never had one moment of regret. It's got so many pluses, it's practically a no-brainer.

Sand acts as a heat sink, making it easier to maintain a constant temperature. Sand is easy to scoop and keep clean and maintain an odorless coop and run. Sand is a natural dirt bath that the chickens enjoy spa time in, especially if you position windows to let in sunlight to warm those bathing spots. It's a convenient source of grit. Sand is easy and cheap. A dump truck from your local gravel yard can dump a pile in a strategic spot and shoveling it into the coop and run is a few hours of a physical workout, but it lasts for a few years before you need to replenish it.

Sand?? That's the first time I ever heard that, and that sounds freaking awesome! I'm so going to have to look into that and it's just regular old sand, like playground - sandbox sand, right? I'm so excited right now!