Rubber Floor? IMPORTANT...

[ezekielSM]

Sounds great to me.

My usual routine is sweeping up all the chips into a heap with a spatual, prodding away curious beakfaces, then putting it all hand by hand into a plastic trash bag. I'm running an experiment to see how dry the PDZ will get the coop floor on its own (to dry it out), then I'll either use the paint/vinyl solution or add a new floor of melamine or some suggestion here.

Thank you you guys, you're awesome.

 

[Hawkeye95]

just wanted to add that if you have a Sutherlands- they are selling little 9ft X 9ft squares of vinyl flooring for like $19.00! (ask them where their remnants are located) And if you check out HomeDepot, they sell it as low as 26 cents a square foot, so you can buy it new off the roll and still not spend much doing it. Then you can tack it down, glue it down, or even just try laying it in there.

 

[TheWaddler]

Is your sig correct in the amount??? You have 6 house chickens?

 

[elmo]

I don't think the flooring is going to make much of a difference if the conditions that created the ammonia problem in the first place don't change.

Try better ventilation, first, as well as keeping control of the moisture. If you don't use a droppings tray and clean it daily, that's what I would try first of all. Take a look at other ways that your bedding is getting wet...waterers overflowing, for example.

 

[natrgatr]

We've used rubber roofing for our coop floor and have had no trouble after three years. I use the deep litter method and have had no problems or damage when shoveling it out. Just be careful and don't dig like you are planting a tree and you will be fine. The rubber is very tough and not at all slippery.

 

[gale65]

The OP is confused. In another thread she stated that her coop is 3 x 4 so that is not anywhere near 72 square feet and also not big enough for 6 chickens. When you figure in square feet per chicken it doesn't include the height.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=7638131#p7638131

eta: I just noticed in another thread that her chickens are confined to this coop 24/7 so that makes it even more of a problem irt size.

 

[ezekielSM]

Hello;

When I calculated the space, you have 3 x 4'- 12 square feet on the ground. Times each square foot of height, so that becomes 72' of space inside the coop. And yes, I have 6 chickens. The chickens are confined until I bring them out for walks in the woods & parks as mentioned in other threads, but we've had a bit of a rainy streak so they haven't been out the last couple days in particular. I don't recall saying they were in there 24/7 except in the context of them being in there when I'm at work until I can take them out for their free-ranging time. My apologies if this was misinterpreted somehow as 'I NEVER take them out'... because it's not true. When at home, they also have free range around the house with me supervising. They're very well cared for.

Also as aforementioned, the windows are almost always open and/or the AC is on. If neither are, the fans are going. It's almost never still in this place because it gets too warm for me (ie: over 75 to 80; I like it 65-70, and I like feeling breezes rather than still air). Ventilation is never an issue, which means that's out of the equation for the ammonia buildup and part of why I was confused at the sudden ammonia smell.

Also as aforementioned (both in this thread and prior threads), I take out their litter daily without fail- I'm OCD about animal care. That's why I was so surprised when the coop suddenly started having an ammonia buildup. I've never had that issue before.

I'm not quite understanding why it's coming as a surprise that I have indoor chickens, as I've mentioned it several times throughout various threads and no one's really had an issue with it before. I've also met several people at chicken swaps who said it was feasible, my landlords gave permission to let me have them provided I keep them clean and no roosters, etc.. and after reading most of this forum I read that the commonly agreed-upon space for each chicken was roughly 2 to 4 square feet per. Most of the time they enjoy being either on the shelves, down on the floor or on the perching pole. They are pretty happy birds. Only one is having a featherpicking issue at the moment and I think it might be a protein issue (my RIR, and I was told that the breed is 'very pecky' ) so I'm working with that by supplementing their diet. I know other people who have apartment chickens and the owners do the same thing (keep them indoors and take them out with them for free-ranging time/etc) with no ill effects.

@Hawkeye: I'm not sure if we have that store, I'll have to look into it.

Thank you- I did try the PDZ and it worked great. I'm going to see how the coop is tomorrow and get a second flooring for it if it returns.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
When they say 4 square feet of space per chicken, that is 4 square feet of FLOOR space. The height doesn't factor in at all. Your coop is, for the purpose of square feet per chicken, 12 square feet. Unless your chickens float in midair, you only count the floor space. 2 square feet would be ok if your chickens had access to a run during the daylight hours, or free ranged during the day. But if they're confined for part of the day they really need the 4 square feet.

 

[MetalSmitten]

Quote:
sorry to say, but this is the correct math. the recommended square footage varies, i personally prefer 4 or more per chicken. (this may also explain why your one chicken is beginning to pick feathers, especially if their diet has enough protein. they can pick because of overcrowding or boredom, especially the high-strung breeds.)

i don't judge you at all for keeping apartment chickens, that's your choice.

it just surprises people because chickens are not house trainable at all, and require tons of ventilation. i do think that you will continue to have ammonia issues to some extent with that many birds confined in a relatively small coop for part of the day, even with OCD cleaning. =/ it's just the nature of the beast. they poo. a lot. more as they get bigger. and they'll find amazing ways of flinging it in places you'd never think they could. they're just talented like that.

i also wanna mention, just on the off chance that you don't already know this, but chickens produce a pretty considerable amount of dander and particulate dust. i know you've got your window open, but that won't remove the dust, at best it'll just keep swirling it around in the air. the dust is gonna build up. and it can become unhealthy for them and for you if you're not careful to take care of that as well as the poo. good luck

 

[kuntrychick]

I would love to see a pic of these chickens kept indoors!

I agree with the previous poster...besides the poo...TONS of dust from the shavings & such from their scratching! When I first hatched out just a few chicks a few months ago, I kept them in an old No. 8 washtub in our extra bathroom. Even at that young of an age, they made a MESS!! Needless to say, hubby had to build a brooder for them outside when they were just about a week or so old.

And what about the noise...the squawking...the Bok Boks...the egg song, etc. Must be interesting!