What flooring/bedding to use for outdoor covered run?

[Hoytman]

In a day or so I'll be ready to move my birds into their new coop which is located underneath a block shed overhang complete with gabled roof overhead, concrete floor, and 3 walls of PTwood framing with 1/2" hardware cloth. The concrete pad itself is 12'x12'. There is a sidewalk on two sides of the concrete floor that is 3 1/2" above the concrete floor; which allows some water...not a lot...to seep onto the concrete floor in a blowing rain. A gutter should fix this easily.

My dad and I went and bought some 6"x8"x16" block and we laid out an area on the floor and began butting the blocks together end-to-end, in a dry stack fashion; just one layer of block. On top of the block we laid a PT 2"x6", then we made hardware cloth covered and framed panels 3'x6' that we placed on top of the block and PT 2"x6". I will also put panels over the top as the roof, which is easy to walk underneath inside and will complete and overhead barrier to predators.

NOTE:
We decided to NOT frame the walls from the concrete floor to the ceiling joists. That way later on I can remove my panels for when I build my permanent outdoor coop and run.

This run will be used when it's raining or snowing or when access to the uncovered outdoor run isn't feasible during bad weather.

I'm debating on what to use for the flooring on top of the concrete: sand or clean tree mulch or pine shavings. What is your opinion? Explain your opinion, please.

 

[AGirlAndHerChickens03]

I use pine shavings and straw, but just pine shavings would work too. When the chickens poop on them they will clump together and their easier to clean up. Sand would be harder to scoop up when you're cleaning out your coop and your chickens wouldn't be able to sift through it for finding dropped food. Mulch will not collect chicken droppings as well, since it doesn't clump and I can't imagine it being all that comfy to walk on.

Just my opinion. I'd be open if anybody wanted to give a better alternative.

 

[Melky]

I do fine pine mulch because it absorbs water and the chickens waste clumps up for easy raking or sifting out with my kitty litter scooper. It also cut down on odors tremendously after girls took it down to dirt. I like the gutters idea with downspouting as I am working on the same and including a rain urn below to catch water to feed back to the chickens. Free water plus diverts water from house/run.

 

[Melky]

By the way the pine mulch I am talking about is potting or landscaping kind not the light pine mulch found at TSC for the run. The animal bedding pine mulch found at TSC, I do use in the chick house floor. I use recycled plastic nesting box mats for the boxes. It is cheaper to wash and reuse. Cuts down on mulch bill.

 

[aart]

Pics of setup would help.
What bedding you use may well depend on how you plan to manage the manure.
I would not use concrete for 'floor' of a run.

 

[Hoytman]

Below are some pictures of the old dog kennel that I am converting to a semi-permanent chicken coop/run. I don't have any pictures yet of the work in progress, but I will take some. I am about 3/4 finished with the project.

I will be building a small coop for at night and it will go on the left side of the pictures out in the grass with a tunnel to get into the covered run. NOTE: I am going to create a much larger outside non-covered run for the day-time when we are home. This run is for when it's raining or snowing...the birds will have a place to move about. It will server...for now...as a house as well until the "other" house is built when this run is finished.

Why do I say semi-permanent?
I can leave it there if I choose, but this is mainly to get my birds out of my garage...never again by the way...and to give me time to design my permanent coop over the winter that will be placed in another location on the property.

All of the construction will be of panels that can be taken down and re-used in my permanent design that I will build in spring and that will allow me to then have my dog kennel back.

This was my grandpa's beagle hound set-up minus the wire runs that used to be there. I'm planning to revive the kennel as well.

I have a lot of work to do to the building to make it like new again. I've already put a new roof over it.

 

[Melky]

In a day or so I'll be ready to move my birds into their new coop which is located underneath a block shed overhang complete with gabled roof overhead, concrete floor, and 3 walls of PTwood framing with 1/2" hardware cloth. The concrete pad itself is 12'x12'. There is a sidewalk on two sides of the concrete floor that is 3 1/2" above the concrete floor; which allows some water...not a lot...to seep onto the concrete floor in a blowing rain. A gutter should fix this easily.

My dad and I went and bought some 6"x8"x16" block and we laid out an area on the floor and began butting the blocks together end-to-end, in a dry stack fashion; just one layer of block. On top of the block we laid a PT 2"x6", then we made hardware cloth covered and framed panels 3'x6' that we placed on top of the block and PT 2"x6". I will also put panels over the top as the roof, which is easy to walk underneath inside and will complete and overhead barrier to predators.

NOTE:
We decided to NOT frame the walls from the concrete floor to the ceiling joists. That way later on I can remove my panels for when I build my permanent outdoor coop and run.

This run will be used when it's raining or snowing or when access to the uncovered outdoor run isn't feasible during bad weather.

I'm debating on what to use for the flooring on top of the concrete: sand or clean tree mulch or pine shavings. What is your opinion? Explain your opinion, please.

Instead of concrete floor can you just do walls and put a 24 inch apron of hardware cloth around base 19g 1/2 inch recommended type for predator protection. Just a thought might save you on cost. I have heard of some using a concrete pad before but don’t know how this works out for cleaning purposes.

The floor then could be mulch sand etc whatever you want.

 

[Melky]

K. I think the concrete on closer inspection is just surrounding area which creates a dig proof apron. It looks like center is dirt but could be wrong. Definitely need sides hardware cloth with wood framing. Where would the chick house be?

 

[Hoytman]

Eventually I will tear out the steel posts, one on the left is missing, and I will tear out and replace the side walk as well, paint, put in new windows, get a pot-belly stove, and turn the rest into a nice "pout house" or "man cave".

 

[Hoytman]

Forget last thought it sounds like concrete floor is already in? In that case don’t take it out. Nice with shed attachment can put tools and store feed etc in there.

If you see that block in the picture...I didn't use that block because it's an 8x8x16...but I bought new block...same size building was built with which is 6x8x16...just imagine laying that block on its side and setting it down inside on the concrete floor up against the side of the sidewalk. That floor area is about 12ft x 12ft.

I formed a 10 1/2ft x 10 1/2ft square with those block on the surface of the concrete floor by just butting the block together, then place a 2"x6" on top of the block and my framed panels sit on top of that. It's turning out real nice so far. I'll try and get some pics later.

I only went one block high because by the time I put my roof panels with wire on top of my wall panels there's only 1/2" left to the ceiling joists. When I design my new coop/run over the winter I may stack the block 2 or 3 high and mortar them in place on a concrete footer. That way I can use my 6ft. high panels and still end up with a run that has walls at least 8ft high.

I sort of jumped the gun ordering our birds, but oh well. I'm due to have eggs late this month or early November.

By using the kennel now it allows me to...
- Get my birds out of my garage. Did I already say never again? Yes, I did. LOL!
- Design a bigger and better coop that will be permanent.
- Finally, and most important...I buy myself some time to decide where on the property to locate the new coop/run that will be permanent. That's why I'm trying to build it so all I have to do is unscrew everything and simply move it to the new location.