New coop with a plywood floor...what is best to cover it with....need help...dh not happy... ;)

[CedarAcres]

Honestly, plywood is fine as long as it not sitting directly on the ground. We have three coops that my family has been using for about 50 years, all with plywood floors. We just replaced one of them this year. These coops sit about a foot off of the ground.

 

[ShanCarl1971]

I put multiple coats of exterior paint on mine. Three years in and no sign of any issues.....not even a bad place in the paint. My floor is actually OSB and I use sand now.....was using pine shavings until about six months ago.

 

[countrycakelady]

WOW! Thanks for all the replies....we have 14 girls currently...that will most likely increase over time, lol......I am off to church, will be back later. BYC rocks!

 

[Biologrady]

We used a big piece of vinyl flooring but I have another option for you... We have two big rolls of stuff in our garage that might work, maybe you do too? One is a flooring underlayment left over from putting in laminate floor, and the other is leftover contractor grade paper that was used under the roof shingles. Both seem tough enough and designed to be a moisture barrier. If your area is small enough and you overlap seams well maybe that would work?

 

[Bens-Hens]

We painted ours with two coats of water based white, then have about an inch or so of kids playground sand. All on a ply wood timber floor.

I use a old milk jug scoop to clean the droppings out.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I have a boarded in floor with a layer of sheet metal over it (rodent proof). Then I added a strip of vinyl floor covering the metal. I then put in wood pellets as bedding but now it is sawdust.

It froze harder than a brick this winter. It still in my coop and I have no complaints and it has been eight months now. I clean my poop boards when needed and stir around my sawdust now from time to time and things are good in my world. I have a 4x8 coop and a dozen hens.

 

[countrycakelady]

I am going to paint it for now...and go with the deep litter method....I can always change it later on down the road.....you all have been so very helpful! YOU ALL ROCK!!!

 

[Hokum Coco]

If you happen to find a scrap piece of vinyl flooring pick it up. You will find the heavy cleaning a lot easier when you fold up and slide out your vinyl flooring and hose it down an pop it back in. A piece usually pops up when you are not looking for it.

 

[aart]

I am going to paint it for now...and go with the deep litter method....I can always change it later on down the road.....you all have been so very helpful! YOU ALL ROCK!!!

....and has DH been cheered or at least contented?

I use a good quality tarp-the silver type and tack it to the floor of our coop. I scatter pine shavings and use feed bags as poop guards under the roost. Once a week I roll up the poopy feed bags and burn them. Or you can rinse them off with the hose and let them air dry and use them again. When the time comes that the tarp is worn I will untack it, roll it up for easy extraction from the coop, and burn it.

I just gotta ask....why would you burn plastic?? Toxic as hell..... ACK..... makes me gag just to think of it.

 

[Blackjack1392]

I have a coop with a plywood floor and I use sand in mine. I have it about 4 inches thick. Every other day I go out there with a kitty litter scoop and scoop up all the poop, and then mix the sand all up to keep it from getting hard and compact. Seems to work pretty well for me. Stays pretty dry and makes scooping the poop out very easy.