the floor of the coop

[breakout]

Birdhouse -- Love your coop! Great fun! Is that the finished state? What did you use on the OSB? Do you have to worry about that soaking up moisture over time outside?

 

[The Bird House]

Birdhouse -- Love your coop! Great fun! Is that the finished state? What did you use on the OSB? Do you have to worry about that soaking up moisture over time outside?

Thanks, Breakout! No, still going to side over the OSB. I just used some old deck stain I had to protect it until I can get to the siding. I'm just about done with all of the exterior trim and can side it soon. I'm looking at siding options now. In the spring time, I'll paint the coop to match the house and barn.

Gifa has posted a lot of great info about flooring options. All of my flooring and foundation structure is treated pine, so only the wall underlayment is osb. I may put another coat of deck stain or Tyvek sheeting before final siding.

I'm having a lot of fun building it and seeing it come together! Hope to start on the inside in the next few weeks and the the run in March / April - chicks come late April.

 

[bellgirl99]

Thanks Melabella! I always have a few compost piles going and this picture is of a big load of leaves I got from some friends. The dogs love it too. There is ao mich great info in This forum! Next I need to find the thread on introducing your chicks to the dogs!

 

[nok13]

hi i was reading thru:
my coop was actually a rabbit hutch with poycarbonate sheeting for the floor and bird fencing for all the walls and some kind of roofing... its situated under an olive tree near a giant rock, neither of which can be moved so the coop rests on the rock as part of its support. the hens have shade in the summer under the coop, and roof if it rains in winter (the big IF around here), and a small area to forage in: i throw all the mulberry tree leaves in there since our four family building's composter cant handle all those leaves... and i hoe up the ground in the winter when its wet enough since the leghorns are not wonderful scratchers like the mediterrenean types seem to be.
in side the coop they have two boards for roosting; two veggie plastic cartons with newspaper and sawdust (most likely pine) i get for free occasionally (difficult to buy this stuff here, either u buy small bags or u have to have friends with farms and access to straw, and even the stable near here doesnt use straw for bedding anymore).
their water is down in their run; their food is in the coop since we have huge amounts of sparrows, pigeons, rockdoves and other wing raiders coming to steal food.
all my kitchen stuff goes to them in the yard, and i turn the soil over every week. im curious to know how soon i can use the soil for planting herbs, my composting skills seem to be lacking.
i put rosemary branches (grows here all over) in the coop for smell control; and clean up the poopy parts of the litter once a week. that stuff usually goes to the regular garbage since neughbhors didnt want animal waste in the composter.
my coop is under neighbhor's window (he raises a huge volaire of lovebirds) and next to other neighbhors , so although there are no rules for animal ownerhsip here, the rule is if it bothers someone , they can go to the head of the kibbutz (like town head) and complain. all my nieighbors contribute to the veggies, and they get fresh eggs, which helps. i reduced to four leghorns, one red hen and am looking for two bantams, since the leghorns are super vocal in the mornings, and create a lot of chicken dirt.
at night the hens sleep locked in; in daytime, the main problem are the local house dogs, and cats and vipers.
forgot to say, im in israel so summer is hot and dry, winter is cool (well, to me cold, but around 5-17 celsius) and can have rain , we even had snow this year, a huge 20 cm's!!

 

[ellend]

Awesome! I love your zen garden chicken coop floor! Thanks for the graphics--the XL "kitty litter" scoop is great.

 

[ellend]

Dirt is way wonderful! The one risk though is predator digging under at night. This is the main reason to floor in the coop. I have a dirt floor run of course, but dug wire a foot down all around it.

Are you in a high predator area? Also, if you are raising young birds, a lot of dampness and moisture can come through a dirt floor which would lead to considerable chill at night.

Food for thoughts
MB

Rats and mice dig in easily if you don't do as above! If you have a small enough coop, raise it up around 18"; rodents feel too exposed, the open area beneath the coop provides shade, and dry dustbath area, as well as rain protection, and it's tall enough for you to get a net under there easily if you have to grab a reluctant bird.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

This looks perfect! I have been reading all over the Internet trying to find the best flooring solution for my coop and I think this is it! I scoop the litter box for my four cats so this is not much different. Seems like it would keep things much cleaner in the coop too.

I am so glad I found this forum...I am learning so much.

Holly

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

Mine is plywood... with a layer of that cheap stick down vinyl tile stuff... with a couple of inches of hardwood fuel pellets on top of that. Out in the run, it's dirt that gets tilled every 4 months... and right now, because it's winter, I've got a 4" layer of straw down for them... to keep 'em dry and give 'em something to kick and scratch around in or nestle into if they want it.

This looks perfect! I have been reading all over the Internet trying to find the best flooring solution for my coop and I think this is it! I scoop the litter box for my four cats so this is not much different. Seems like it would keep things much cleaner in the coop too. I am so glad I found this forum...I am learning so much. Holly

The reply was meant for Gifa, but my Internet dropped in the middle of my comment and the quote got lost.

 

[DuginMT]

I just used some left over vinyl flooring from our home upgrade. Glued it down with Liquid Nail. I had some gaps so made sure I painted the plywood flooring in those areas. I know chickens don't pee but there is still moisture in their droppings, and I didn't want it rotting out the floor of their new coop.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

I just used some left over vinyl flooring from our home upgrade. Glued it down with Liquid Nail. I had some gaps so made sure I painted the plywood flooring in those areas. I know chickens don't pee but there is still moisture in their droppings, and I didn't want it rotting out the floor of their new coop.

Looks good Doug, I am keeping my eye out for a sheet of leftover Lino. I agree that it will help to preserve the plywood floor even longer as an underpayment below the pellets.