Summer and floor of my coop

[babyrnlc]

Ok, I have a question. The floor in the coop was made removeable (is that a word?) so that we could take it out and clean it. I got to thinking, in the summer about adding wiring and leaving the wood off. Then I read on a thread that maybe wire is not a good idea because the poop would stick to it. So then I started thinking about maybe taking the whole thing off and just putting some small boards accros the bottom so they could get to the nest boxes and the roosts. Does this sound like it could work? This would be in the summer when it is warmer. Here is the coop, we have since added hard wire cubes (for wire shelving) across the bottom, and with the dogs, I dont think predators will be an issue. I had planned on using the wire cubes to make the floor.

Edited to add: We will be moving it every few days. So we could spray down the wire and then move it, so we would not have to worry about the mess. What do you think, wire/ no wire?

 

[Captain Carrot]

if the hens can slide over to the nest boxes on the roost you wouldn't even need the boards.

I'm not sure why you'd want to remove the floor anyway. Are you thinking of more ventilation in summer?

 

[babyrnlc]

Quote:
Well there's that, but mainly to not have to buy litter/hay and not have to clean as much. We do that for the rabbits in the summer, the poop just goes to the ground and we don't have to clean out the hutch as much.

 

[Captain Carrot]

rabbit poop is small and dry where as chicken poop is big and wet.

How about just leaving half the floor and the rest with wire mesh. that way you can go over the mesh with a brush to knock the dropping out and onto the floor, and scrape the floor off?

There is a thread somewhere on using sand in the coop, then the poop is picked up with a cat litter scoop and the sand falls through back into the coop. A couple of minutes scooping poop a day and that's it.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have started hosing out all my coops once a week (except my shed coop) to save money on shavings. They have wood slats for the floor that have holes in between (not enough for a predator to come up through).

Some of my coops have plastic coated welded wire as floors. It cleans up even easier with the hose. The 2 inch wood slats I have to scrape a little sometimes while hosing them down.

The poo comes clean very easily with the coated welded wire.

 

[elmo]

You could leave the floor and put an inch or so of sand over it. I use sand in my coops and love it. You can pick out droppings with a litter scoop and leave all the sand behind. You very rarely have to replenish the sand. And the chickens like to dustbathe in it.

 

[Judy]

Rabbit poop and chicken poop are very different materials and the poop won't go though like rabbit poop does; you will still have to clean the wire. And chickens are pretty good at getting their toenails caught on wire and injuring themselves.

 

[Mamachicks28]

Quote:
That's interesting - sand? Is it safe for the chickens? I'm new and cleaning is a pain...we have six pullets but found out yesterday that one of them is a boy. Sand, if it's safe, is a great idea and better cleaning than the shavings.

 

[celticbird]

I use sand....it works well.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
That's interesting - sand? Is it safe for the chickens? I'm new and cleaning is a pain...we have six pullets but found out yesterday that one of them is a boy. Sand, if it's safe, is a great idea and better cleaning than the shavings.

Yes, sand is safe. You don't want a sand that clumps, though. Coarse, all purpose sand works very well. I use boot trays under the roosts to make cleaning the overnight droppings quick and easy, and I use a reptile litter scoop taped to a long handle to pick droppings out of the sand. Clean up in the morning takes me all of 5 -10 minutes and the coop stays clean and fresh.