preferred coop flooring?

[amazondoc]

Hey guys --

I have a couple of sheds that I am turning into additional coop space. Both have plywood floors.

What is preferred for durable cheap floor treatment? I priced the cheapest linoleum at Lowes, which wlll cost upwards of $100 for the 10 x 16 shed. Or, I could just paint the floor with high quality, exterior-grade, mildew-resistant paint for much less. Or, what else could I do? What works well over the long term, without costing a bunch?

Thanks for any pointers!

 

[acbear93]

My husband built our coop (8x8) just over 5 years ago for me, previously we had used an old run down shed that has since been torn down...He used plywood for the floor, and we sealed it with primer, and some leftover barn paint. Its held up pretty good....We scatter shavings on the floor then, and its easily scooped up when we clean it out. At the time, he had his own ideas of how to make it, so I just let him!!!

 

[lalaland]

really depends on how many chickens, and how much time inside. I've had good luck with just plain, unpainted plywood, in conjunction with plenty of hay. That is with pretty good access to outdoors, and being careful of waterers.

In the 8 years I've kept chickens, I haven't had to replace any flooring - but I did move once, so the longest I've had a coop floor has been 6 years.

 

[schoebel_taylor]

I have cement for my floor that i mixed myself. It wasnt too expensive and it works awesome. Plywood or even particle board works good though too if you put prime on it or paint or something. I used to have some cheap vinal and that worked good too.

 

[wildorchid053]

we put vinyl over wood and deep litter method.. nothing has ever gotten down to the wood and clean up is a breeze. no wood rot from the waterers. rain blowing in or snow tracked in

 

[purpletree23]

I have a wood floor that I painted with a gallon of outdoor paint from Lowes that was on clearance for $5.00 Then I went to our local flooring place to ask for any linoleum scraps they were throwing away. After they stopped laughing at me they did give me strips of linoleum that were usually 3 feet wide by whatever long. I cut them as I needed and used short nails to attach it to the floor. Staples didn't hold. My coop floor is mismatched and UGLY but pretty much water proof and easy to clean and was free. I had to go back every couple of days as the scraps came in. Works for me.

 

[purpletree23]

I also use deep litter method. Love it!

 

[Rebekah]

I have a raised coop over my run. The floor is hardware cloth with removable plywood sections that are painted with exterior semi-gloss paint. I cover the floor with pine shavings and made them removable for occasional cleaning. I clean the completely painted interior by spraying it with the power wash setting on my garden hose, so the hardware cloth floor makes drainage really easy.

 

[patandchickens]

If it were me I would just clean and prime the floors well, and then put on a couple layers of whatever semigloss or deck/porch paint I could find cheap mistints or remnants of, and call it good.

Then if, in the future, a suitable size piece of vinyl flooring should fall out of the sky into your lap, for free or really cheap, you can easily clean the bedding off and apply it to your painted floor.

But in the meantime you will still have a completely functional floor which will be quite durable in its own right as long as you keep plenty o' bedding on it.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[AnnesChicks]

Keep it simple and inexpensive. We elevated our coop, which works really well gives them a shady spot to hang out on hot days and keeps the coop very dry. We painted our entire inside of our coop including the floor. We use the deep litter method, shavings + stall dri. I haven't cleaned my coop since March, no smell, no bugs.

As long as the litter is dry you should be good. To contain any spills I elevated my waterer up on wood chunks, topped off with a piece of leftover plywood and set the waterer on the lid of a rubbermaid tub. Is working really well.