Questions about Coop flooring and RUN AREA

[joebryant]

I'm just now finishing up the first half of my two-section (each 4-x8-x8-high) coop(s).
I checked the price of linoleum, OUCH!
Home Depot has a 4x8 white bathroom wall board panel for $10 that's better than linoleum and a whole lot cheaper. I got it for both sections of my coops.

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
you can get the 1/2 plywood for 6.00 a sheet . WOULD NOT want anything white in any chicken coop or RUN LOL

 

[SeaChick]

We used scraps of vilyl flooring. You can get this from the remnant bin at Home depot/Lowes, or flooring store... but see if your town has a Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, they sell recycled/donated/leftover builing materials for cheapo. WE got the flooring for like $7.

Re: white: we like our coop painted white inside, it is brighter and more cheery and easier to clean!

 

[Chirpy]

Another place to look for linoleum/vinyl is on Craigslist. You can even post a 'wanted' ad and hope somebody will contact you. We got our first piece from Habitat for Humanity and our second piece for our add-on from Craigslist.

All these wonderful helpful items sure do add up on the pocket book huh?!

 

[Sulteric]

I have access to pine shavings and got a 50lb bag with them. They're exploring their new home right now. I just got these home today so input is welcome. I have a few questions about cleaning.

The coop has a cement floor with a drain in the middle. It's actually an old sauna house. The two windows have metal screens in them (very secure) and I redid the outer windows with latches to secure it open and closed.

How often do I clean it the shavings off the floor? What's the best cleaning tips?

What's the best method? Do I go through and see what needs removing or just change the whole lot?

Also, how long will it take them to find their beds? They haven't quite figured it out yet. They are about two months old but in a completely new environment.

 

[Chirpy]

Sulteric asked:

How often do I clean it the shavings off the floor? What's the best cleaning tips?

What's the best method? Do I go through and see what needs removing or just change the whole lot?

Also, how long will it take them to find their beds? They haven't quite figured it out yet. They are about two months old but in a completely new environment.

There are multiple different ways to clean.

1) Some people clean up every day or once a week. They usually just take out the poopy spots and put in fresh bedding.

2) Some people do a complete clean out every few months.

3) I use the DLM (deep litter method) where I started with a few inches of fresh bedding in the spring. Then, every week I use a shovel to stir up and turn over the bedding that's there. Once a month I add 2 to 3 inches of fresh bedding on top of the old bedding. I did this for an entire year. By last month it was close to 18" deep in the chicken house!

I then did a complete, thorough clean out of the entire chicken coop and finished by starting over with a fresh layer of 3" of bedding. I use pine shavings for my bedding.

Always scoop out any wet bedding and throw it out (onto your garden, compost pile, trees, etc.) and replace with fresh dry bedding. That may be daily or weekly or seldom depending on whether your chickens mess with their waterer or outside rain gets inside.

As to them finding their beds .. I assume you mean they aren't roosting on their roosts yet. You will probably need to literally go in every night for a few nights and physically place them on their roosts so they learn. Most chickens will learn quickly to go there themselves. Some chickens will never roost and will sleep on the floor or in a nest box.

You don't want them sleeping in a nest box or you will have poopy eggs. Yuk! Make sure your roost(s) are higher than your nest boxes as chickens almost always chose the highest place they can to roost.

Also, don't give them access to your nest boxes until they are old enough to start laying eggs; say around 17 weeks old. That way they shouldn't develop that bad behavior of sleeping in them.​

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
they will soon find their nest boxes . I was also told to drop a couple of golf balls in the nesting boxes and that will help also