If you are contemplating a chicken house that you intend to be more or less permanent, and of any size at all....say large enough to house a dozen birds, know that the A#1 recommended floor to put under it is concrete. That has been the gold standard of chicken house floors for at least 100 years.
The reason being cement floors solve a lot of problems. If you live in an area with rats, this is the critical first step in rat proofing your house. They may tunnel under it, but can't tunnel through it. Same with any digging predators, they can't dig their way in. If you go to the BYC predator forums, there are nearly an infinite number of threads on rats and losses to predators that dug their way in. Everything from weasels, to skunks, coons, dogs, foxes, etc. Likely as not, all the losses in all those threads that resulted from digging predators could have been avoided by cement floors. Fort Knox was built on cement.
Another issue that cement floors solves is moisture and wetness. Cement floors, if built correctly, elevates the floor above the surrounding landscape and keeps the birds high and dry. A good thing. Even with cement floors, you still use litter......even deep litter. It is different than on dirt, but can still be used. And in hot weather, birds can dig down to the cement, where they sit on and use the cooler cement as a heat sink to cool down. When it's time to clean, a house with cement floors can be cleaned out and sanitized.
And cement is more or less permanent.......it isn't going to rot. As for expense.......it may be the most expensive, but wooden/plywood/vinyl flooring floors are not free either. The cost difference is only what extra cost, if any, exists beyond what these other floors cost.
So if you want to go that route, here is what is involved.
I would suggest you build a floating slab. The footings around the perimeter need to be excavated out and built deeper.......the main field in the middle only to the depth of the floor. 3 1/2 to 4 inches being deep enough for a chicken house. Perimeter is where the framing rests. All is improved with rebar. In many cases, the only excavation needed is for the footings. The main floor is often simply bedded on gravel that was dumped on the soil. You do that to gain elevation to keep the floor, high, dry and well drained.
First video explains how all this is done. Note the plans shown about the 1:15 mark that lays all this out.
Of special note....pay attention to the size and depth of the perimeter footings vs. the interior field. The wide footings with rebar.......and rebar in the field, and how all this is placed on a bed or base of gravel. The combination of the two is what makes it stable over time. The rebar shown in this particular video is a bit overkill for a chicken house but the theory remains the same. For a chicken house, you do NOT need a vapor barrier. Your home does, but a chicken house does not. If you are located in a wet area, do consider running the black plastic drain tile around the perimeter of the footing......top of drain tile even with bottom of the main field slab. Then have the drain tile drain off to the lowest point surrounding the house. Do that and you will have a dry house.
Second video shows how the pour is made and also towards the end of the video, how the anchor bolts are installed while the cement is still wet. Once this is finished and dry, you have the foundation of what can become your permanent bomb proof chicken house.
The reason being cement floors solve a lot of problems. If you live in an area with rats, this is the critical first step in rat proofing your house. They may tunnel under it, but can't tunnel through it. Same with any digging predators, they can't dig their way in. If you go to the BYC predator forums, there are nearly an infinite number of threads on rats and losses to predators that dug their way in. Everything from weasels, to skunks, coons, dogs, foxes, etc. Likely as not, all the losses in all those threads that resulted from digging predators could have been avoided by cement floors. Fort Knox was built on cement.
Another issue that cement floors solves is moisture and wetness. Cement floors, if built correctly, elevates the floor above the surrounding landscape and keeps the birds high and dry. A good thing. Even with cement floors, you still use litter......even deep litter. It is different than on dirt, but can still be used. And in hot weather, birds can dig down to the cement, where they sit on and use the cooler cement as a heat sink to cool down. When it's time to clean, a house with cement floors can be cleaned out and sanitized.
And cement is more or less permanent.......it isn't going to rot. As for expense.......it may be the most expensive, but wooden/plywood/vinyl flooring floors are not free either. The cost difference is only what extra cost, if any, exists beyond what these other floors cost.
So if you want to go that route, here is what is involved.
I would suggest you build a floating slab. The footings around the perimeter need to be excavated out and built deeper.......the main field in the middle only to the depth of the floor. 3 1/2 to 4 inches being deep enough for a chicken house. Perimeter is where the framing rests. All is improved with rebar. In many cases, the only excavation needed is for the footings. The main floor is often simply bedded on gravel that was dumped on the soil. You do that to gain elevation to keep the floor, high, dry and well drained.
First video explains how all this is done. Note the plans shown about the 1:15 mark that lays all this out.
Second video shows how the pour is made and also towards the end of the video, how the anchor bolts are installed while the cement is still wet. Once this is finished and dry, you have the foundation of what can become your permanent bomb proof chicken house.
