waterproofing the coop floor

[maggiegigs]

My husband wants to put down on the coop floor a rubber roof material that we have left over from our deck roof. We would still put down the 3 inches of pine shavings. He states that along with cleaning 3 times/week...at the end of the week we would take this "matting" out of the coop and wash it. He feels this is more sanitary than just letting them wet on shaving on plywood flooring. Any comments are welcome.

Maggiegigs

 

[PetChickenBoo]

That sounds like it might work. We put a piece of really cheap vinyl down to make it easier to wipe up a mess and keep liquid from rotting the wood floor.

 

[DarkWolf]

I just painted my ply with oil based porch floor paint.

Depends on the size of your coop as to if it'll actually be easy.. Sounds like y'all are going to be cleaning it quite frequently.

Personally.. I don't clean mine but once a year. No smell. No issue.. So long as there is good ventilation and the coop stays DRY from the rain, you'll never have any stench in it.

But yes... To the extent that if you DO clean out the coop often and pull out the pad to hose it down, it'll be fairly easy to clean. Beyond having to pull out shavings and EPDM.

 

[JRchickchick]

That sounds like a LOT of work! How big is your coop? If it is only for a few hens, then that would be fine. I have found that a poo board UNDER the roost that I clean off once or twice a week does the job of keeping the bedding much cleaner. I just use a big dust pan and a scrapey T shaped thing I made and off the poo goes to the poo compost pile. I add a little shavings from the floor on the poo board, and they are good to go for awhile.

I did buy some material that is used to make boat tarps (kind of rubbery, with a fiber running through it to give it strength, and "upholstered" the poo boards, used a heavy duty stapler to staple to the underside, and had found some remnant rolls (6' wide), that I used to put on the plywood floor. I ALSO painted the floor and halfway up the sidewalls of the coop with an oil-based porch and floor paint (very durable and scrubbable), and let it dry for a week before putting the chicks in. They've been in now since the first of July, started laying just 2 weeks ago, and are doing well. (This is my first time coop/chickens).

When you clean it you could spray a little bleachy water and let it air dry before you put it back in. Moisture is bacteria's friend!

Good Luck!

 

[johny]

JRchick is right, a tray under the roost collects at least half the poop in a small and easy to clean area.

As for the rubber mat, it would definitely keep liquid off the wood floor.
But I don’t think you need to remove it for cleaning. That is too much work.

My floor is ¾ inch pressure treated plywood.
Over that, I nailed a floor cover, which is normally used in bass boats. It is waterproof but easy to shovel the chips off of. There is no need to remove the boat decking because no fluids penetrate it and it all evapourate on the chips.

So use your rubber mat, but trim it to fit and nail it to the floor permanently.

 

[elmo]

Chicken poop is pretty dry as it is...except for cecal poops, of course. Unless you have a lot of spilled water from the waterer, the floor inside the coop doesn't really get wet. Any moisture gets taken care of by the bedding, whether you use shavings or sand.

 

[maggiegigs]

Thank you all for your replies. I love the suggestions. Sounds like I am good to go. Since I have a plywood floor, I waterproofed it today but my husband is INSISTENT on using this rubber roofing material. So I will take the advise and not remove it just sweep and clean it once a week;otherwise removing it is allot of work. I want this to be fun!!

 

[patman75]

I use a tarp under the deep litter. When it is time to change it I can pull the whole tarp and litter out the door.

 

[WonderChicken]

I am in no way an expert on roofing materials, but the first thing that comes to mind is what is it made of? Is it treated/made with harmful chemicals in any way? Will they leach out? Just wanted to pose the question

 

[4Peep'sSake]

Have you looked into the deep litter method? It still sounds like a lot of work to me to sweep it out once a week, I have a hard enough time keeping up my weekly cleaning in my own house let alone the girls' hen house. We are using the deep litter method right now and it takes me only about a minute every 2 days (for 18 chickens.) I have a pitch fork right out side the coop that I use to stir up the litter when it needs it. I have noticed it really only needs to be done that often right under the roosts. The rest of the coop can go about a week before needing a good stir. Every so often DH adds a new bag or two of litter on top of what is there. I have not noticed any bad smells in the coop. Most people who use the deep litter method do a full clean out once or twice a year. When we get them in the new coop, we plan to use the deep litter method on the floor and will cover the poop board under the roost with sand. I've read with the sand you can take a kitty litter scoop and clean off the poop very quickly.
I like your comment to keep it fun. The less time I spend on cleaning, the more fun I have