Renovating for a new coop

[ChickPeas]

My husband and I are are renovating an old well house into a chicken coop...it's about 10x10, will have an enclosed run for daytime while we're at work and when we're with the chickens, they'll have access to an outdoor run and our backyard.

This building has been un-used for a loooooong time and it has a dirt floor. Is there anything we can use to clean and disinfect it before the chicks go in it?

I'll be using pine shavings for bedding. I wish there was something I could put on top of the dirt, but I imagine it will be cool for them in the summer.

Also, what's the deal with DE? Where do you put that? Is that for a dust bath?

Sorry for so many questions...I'm a total newbie.

Thank you!!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Hi and welcome! Me personally-- I wouldn't be concerned about a dirt floor. I have it in an area of my barn, and the chickens scratch at it in the winter when they don't want to go outside., and if it hasn't been used in a long time--i wouldn't worry about disinfecting it. just make it as predator proof as possible. DE is used for the treatment of lice and mites etc. They will dust bathe in it.

 

[Dawn419]

Hi Chick Peas and Welcome to BYC!

Check out the food grade DE page that I put together. It should answer some of your questions and if it doesn't, please feel free to contact me!

Hope this helps!

Dawn

 

[willheveland]

I have a friend that has a dirt floor coop,he rototills it once in a while and adds lime to the floor to disinfect.It builds up over time and after he tills he'll dig some out and add to his garden.
The only bad thing about a dirt floor is that it's easy for critters to dig in. will

 

[ChickPeas]

Thanks for the welcome and the replies! I think what we're going to do is maybe dig a trench around the outside and fill it with concrete...that may make it harder for critters to dig in. Hopefully that will work.

 

[Dawn419]

We ran a mix of chicken wire and hardware cloth around the outside edges on the ground of our coops and runs to keep predators from digging in. We used a mix of landscape staples/stakes and wire coat hanger stakes (that we made ourselves), to hold the wire skirts in place.

Dawn