Sand or deep bedding over concrete in coop?

[Lilion]

New question! I've been reading and reading, both here on just googling. Decided it might be best to just tailor the question to my situation.

The coop, which will be a walk-in, 5x6 or so (maybe bigger), has a very rough, uneven, concrete floor. Specifically, it appears people just mixed it up, dumped it in, and raked it out. It cannot be changed. I don't want to spend hours on end cleaning, so it seems the two best choices are sand or deep bedding.

The run will be dirt/grass/weeds until the girls make it just dirt, then probably wood chips since we have a free source from a tree-trimming company.

Can you give me your opinions? Pros and cons? I think I've figured out how both work, but I'm a total novice here so all the help I can get is welcome.

 

[DobieLover]

New question! I've been reading and reading, both here on just googling. Decided it might be best to just tailor the question to my situation.

The coop, which will be a walk-in, 5x6 or so (maybe bigger), has a very rough, uneven, concrete floor. Specifically, it appears people just mixed it up, dumped it in, and raked it out. I don't want to spend hours on end cleaning, so it seems the two best choices are sand or deep bedding.

Can you give me your opinions? Pros and cons? I think I've figured out how both work, but I'm a total novice here so all the help I can get is welcome.

Can you post pictures?
If the "pad" went down as you described, it might be better to just rent a jack hammer and get rid of it and start on terra firma. Then you can level it out and build either on the ground and have an earthen floor in the coop or float a coop with floor joists and a plywood floor on ground contact rated skids. If you go the skid route, I'd put a 3-4" layer of crusher run or road base down that will extend 6" past the outer perimeter of the coop and rent a plate compactor and compact it flat and use that as a base for the coop. It will keep the skids from rotting too soon on damp ground.

 

[Lilion]

Can you post pictures?
If the "pad" went down as you described, it might be better to just rent a jack hammer and get rid of it and start on terra firma. Then you can level it out and build either on the ground and have an earthen floor in the coop or float a coop with floor joists and a plywood floor on ground contact rated skids. If you go the skid route, I'd put a 3-4" layer of crusher run or road base down that will extend 6" past the outer perimeter of the coop and rent a plate compactor and compact it flat and use that as a base for the coop. It will keep the skids from rotting too soon on damp ground.

Yeah...no. We're converting a corner of a BIG shed and the floor is what it is. We also don't have time for that. Chickens coming in less than 2 weeks and we both work full time. No choices...gotta keep the floor.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

What is your climate? Is the humidity high where you live, or low?

We tried sand, in the Willamette Valley in Oregon where the humidity is high much of the year. the sand and droppings that we missed absorbed the humidity and during summer became hard and concrete-like. I like deep litter better than sand because of this.
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[Lilion]

What is your climate? Is the humidity high where you live, or low?

We tried sand, in the Willamette Valley in Oregon where the humidity is high much of the year. the sand and droppings that we missed absorbed the humidity and during summer became hard and concrete-like. I like deep litter better than sand because of this.
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According to Google, average humidity in Missouri is 65 to 70%. At the moment its 80%. It rained yesterday. Tomorrow the forecast is 70%. In a week the forecast is saying 50%. Missouri is very variable weather-wise.

 

[3KillerBs]

I would always choose deep bedding myself.

Deep bedding composts when you clean it out. Sand has to be poop-scooped regularly and when you eventually have to change it because it's full of unscoopable poop dust it doesn't compost.

 

[texsuze]

I'd suggest interlocking rubber mats, the heavy duty ones used in horse stalls and horse wash racks. Not the flimsy square mats that curl up at the edges. With only 5x6' floor space you might get away with just one and a partial mat. They can be cut with linoleum knife. Set the mat(s) wall to wall within the coop space you're allocating. At that point, you could use either shavings or sand to go over the mat. Wouldn't really want chickens jumping down from roost height onto an unforgiving surface like raw concrete. Better to have some depth of cushioning. Picking poop isn't difficult on either sand or shavings.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If it stays dry in there I'd go with deep bedding and a droppings board. Deep litter is where you turn your coop or run into a compost pile. That requires a little moisture, not much but a little. You typically allow the poop under the roost to mix with it. Deep bedding is where you collect the nighttime poop and remove it from the coop but keep it so dry that the bedding lasts for a long time with no cleaning. I only clean my droppings board when I need to, if it starts to smell I waited too long. I might clean my droppings board once a week, sometimes I can go as long as six weeks. It depends on how many chickens I have using it and how humid the air is. I clean out my coop once every three or four years, not because I have to but because I want that stuff on my garden. When I clean I don't get it shiny clean, I just rake most of the stuff out.