Plywood floor in raised bed coop

[gtaus]

I'm not sure if other products will work as well. The Black Jack web site also lists, Ace Hardware, Do It Best and True Value. If you have any of those in your area, they may carry it or possibly order it for you.

We do have a small Ace Hardware. I checked with them and they do carry Black Jack - and for the same price as Lowe's. So that is an option. Thanks.

If you can't find Black Jack, I would use one piece of vinyl flooring, not squares. I would tack 1 x 2's around the edge to hold it down. This way if you ever have to replace it, it will be easy.

I have never had much luck with the squares, so if I go with vinyl it will be one piece. Good suggestion about tacking it down with 1 X 2's.

Yes, you want your coop bedding dry. I do deep bedding with pine shavings and some straw. I clean my coop out about once a year, but I also use a poop board that I scoop every day, so I don't get a lot of poop on my floor. They spend a lot of time in the run or in the yard.

There was another guy here on BYC who recommended using a poop board under the perches. I guess it makes sense to keep the deep litter cleaner. From all the YouTube videos I have been watching, I thought you actually wanted the droppings in the litter for the composting effect with the carbon bedding. I have no experience in raising chickens in a coop. The only people I know around here are commercial growers and they don't raise their birds in coops, they have barns, so it's not the same.

I did not mean to hijack the original poster's thread, and I maybe their situation in Arizona is somewhat different than mine in Minnesota, but I hope someone will find all this information helpful. We were looking for similar solutions for deep litter floor ideas but for different geographic settings. Sounds like most of the solutions would apply to both of us. Thanks.

 

[blackdog043]

I thought you actually wanted the droppings in the litter for the composting effect with the carbon bedding.

I don't compost in my coop. With the dry bedding(deep bedding) the poop just dries up and breaks down. When I clean the coop out, I throw all the bedding in my run which is deep litter (moist) that composts.

 

[gtaus]

I don't compost in my coop. With the dry bedding(deep bedding) the poop just dries up and breaks down. When I clean the coop out, I throw all the bedding in my run which is deep litter (moist) that composts.

Where I get confused is that some people refer to deep litter in the coop as composting, moist from droppings, spilled water, leftover kitchen scraps, other food, etc.. which would generate some heat to keep the birds warmer during the winter months. But I have also heard that you don't want moist composting in the coop for the winter because it would raise the humidity level in the coop and risk frostbite on the chickens. Better to keep the coop dry like you mentioned, I suspect. Composting only outside in the run makes sense.

 

[HotWingsHoulihen]

I built the floor and then stapled the vinyl flooring to it before I put up the walls. I wrapped it a bit on the sides of the base frame. When I put the walls up it holds it in place.

 

[Acre4Me]

View attachment 1736167 View attachment 1736168 View attachment 1736170 I built the floor and then stapled the vinyl flooring to it before I put up the walls. I wrapped it a bit on the sides of the base frame. When I put the walls up it holds it in place.

We did the same thing! We are 1 year in, many chickens and floor is in good shape. Because the coop is elevated 2.5', it is dry. We put a bag of shavings on the floor, under the ladder-style roosts and then shovel it out and replace on a regular basis. It goes into the run...they churn it up, mother nature (sun and rain and microbes) do the rest!

Here is ours, with the roosts lifted up and out of the way for cleaning.