Tarp?

[chicken Queen]

I just have the tarp in part of the coop . Where they roost . they leave in the morning go out to free range . I then pick up the tarp . The chickens do not scratch at it at all.

 

[honeynajar]

I guess my main concern is damage done to the floor by urine/wet feces. Since I'm going to use the deep litter method... hoping to only do a deep cleaning 2x a year which will include disinfecting with vinegar.... am I overthinking this or OCDing something that doesn't need to be OCD'd over? My concern with the BlackJack is.... since this is an actual new shed that we are outfitting for the chicks... what if I am no longer able to have chickens - the Blackjack is permenant - is this the type of flooring I want on say a work shop? Can I get away with just painting with porch paint, covering with deep litter, and cleaning and disinfecting as needed????? I hope I'm not giving you all a headache like I'm giving myself AND my DH.

 

[Beekissed]

I'll tell you what I did but it may not have any bearing on your situation. My coop had a wood floor....ancient oak boards with large gaps in between. I just left it....used my deep litter. I found that, if you are doing it properly, there really isn't that much moisture under there and none of it really soaked in or did any permanent changes to the wood. Didn't even leave any smell behind when clean up time came along.

That coop has stood for about 50 years and had been used by the previous owner and his chickens for the same amount of time and there is no evidence of any sealant, paint or other precautions having been used. Deep litter shouldn't be soaking wet and it is normally fluffed, moved, etc., many, many times over the time it is there....I find no areas of increased dampness in any one place in my coop upon removal of the litter. Been doing that for the past 4-5 years now with clean out twice a year, flock of 30 DP birds.

 

[JackE]

JackE... supposing you did the BlackJack on a sunny spring day - how long do you suppose it would take for it to dry and cure so that we could put our chicks in their new home? It was in the 80's last week, but its in the 50/60's here now. So I'm thinking it would probably be in the 60's when we do it.

When I did mine, the temps were in the high 60s. It looked dry after a day, but I didn't put the chickens on it for like three days. I put it on thick, so I gave it a few days to cure all the way through.
Jack

 

[JackE]

I guess my main concern is damage done to the floor by urine/wet feces. Since I'm going to use the deep litter method... hoping to only do a deep cleaning 2x a year which will include disinfecting with vinegar.... am I overthinking this or OCDing something that doesn't need to be OCD'd over? My concern with the BlackJack is.... since this is an actual new shed that we are outfitting for the chicks... what if I am no longer able to have chickens - the Blackjack is permenant - is this the type of flooring I want on say a work shop? Can I get away with just painting with porch paint, covering with deep litter, and cleaning and disinfecting as needed????? I hope I'm not giving you all a headache like I'm giving myself AND my DH.

This would make for a good work shop floor. It's not slippery. It's dark though, some people like a lighter colored floor. But hey, You could always put something lighter over it, vinyl, linolium maybe?
Jack