What do you put on your coop floor and question about roosting

[WildBillHicks]

My coop flooring is bare wood right now. My hens don't really sleep in the coop though, they sleep in a covered roost but with winter coming I want them to spend more time in the coop because it won't be as cold in there. Not sure how to do that other than taking down the roost. There's a roost in the coop but it's a lot smaller than the outdoor roost. See pics.

Also what do you put on the floor of your coop? I see a lot of pics with stuff on the floor so I want to know what that is and how to use it like how often to you replace it, etc.

Thanks

First pic is of the outdoor roost. You can see the ladder going up to the roost (6' high). All 12 sleep up there. As you can see one side is wide open and faces the run.

The second pic is the coop. It's right next to the outdoor roost. It has that little door and a window on the back side that I can open/close.

 

[maybejoey]

Linolium. It cleans very easily and is cheap.

 

[beach livin']

i am going to get a remanant piece of lenolium, and then put sown some shavings and hay to make it softer and will be warmer in the winter.

 

[WildBillHicks]

Quote:
The flooring in there is linoleum.

I thought from the pics I have seen that people put some type of wood shaving or something similar, and that there was specific reason for it.

 

[ladyride]

Some use pine shavings some use equine pellets about 4-6" deep. I use pine pellets scoop out the poo in the am at least til the poop hammock comes back then just rake good done takes about 5 min. Change the whole thing 1-2 times a year. The shavings & pellets keep the poo dry no smell being a city girl for the last 20+ yrs. had to find something that would not smell to the high heavens.With the poop hammock empty once a week spray with some bleach or oxine rinse let dry rehang done.

 

[nurse_turtle]

I have linoleum under about 4-6 inches of pine shavings and I current employ the deep litter method with a healthy dose of DE.

 

[6chick*start]

Quote:
The flooring in there is linoleum.

I thought from the pics I have seen that people put some type of wood shaving or something similar, and that there was specific reason for it.

I think most use pine shavings in the coop. Very inexpensive, $4.99 for maybe 5sq ft.
Do a little research on the deep litter method. Works beautifully sprinkling food grade DE. Check it out.
I think I started with just 3 bags of shavings for 8x8 coop.
Sprinkle a tiny bit of DE every 2weeks, add another 1/2 bag of shavings once month maybe.
I do pick up big poop daily and scoop out of sand that is under roost bars. Easy peasy and the method dries up the rest perfectly.
I did Kilz the wood floor first.

A lot of people use straw or hay. From what I have researched it seems many have problems with keeping dry and mold, fungus and such.
Also have read many stories of impacted crops when cut open full of hay/straw.
Cedar is not good for chickens so don't use that.

Heh, had a bit more to say but now forgot ... may be a good thing.
Good Luck!

 

[fireguy56]

WildBill, Same here man.....sheet vinyl over OSB, then covered with about 4"-6" of pine shavings. Poop mixes in with the shavings and along with either agricultural lime or DE help dry out the poop. Some folks here swear by sand. Matter of preferance. The deep litter method is used widely and folks clean the whole thing out once a year, some more often. The whole shooting match can go into the compost pile for later use in the garden. With the deep litter method all ya gotta do is turn it over every once in awhile and add a little more shavings to freshen it up. I throw some scratch in there from time to time and the chickens turn it over for me. Hope this helps.
Good luck.
Erik Oh, don't forget to put a 1"x6" in front of the door to keep shavings in if ya go this route.