What kind of floor should I have for my chicken run?

[3littlechickies]

Hi!

So, I started designing my coop/run with a wood floor covered in linoleum. I designed it to be an 8 foot long and 4 foot wide rectangle. Then I changed my idea to a 6 foot square run with a smaller 3 foot square coop inside.

If I do the second design I figured I would just have a dirt floor. I would dig down for the hardware cloth to be underground. Now I have the idea of maybe a concrete floor!

It seems like the concrete would be SO much easier to clean! How much does concrete cost? In easiness which would be easier:

digging maybe almost a foot down or doing concrete? Do raccoons dig underground? Is that why you have to dig and put hardware cloth under? Or is it some other animal that it is for? I think raccoons

are the only animal that I need to worry about. I want it to be perfect so I keep on changing my mind!!

Thanks so much!!

 

[nascarjunkie1]

I just built a 7x8 coop with a wood floor and linoleum on top. Run will be 8x12 about 6 1/2 foot tall. Concrete is expensive and wouod be an easy clean up.

 

[3littlechickies]

So is your run going to be on the dirt? Is your coop elevated off the ground? Thanks!

 

[nascarjunkie1]

My run will be dirt and sand mixture. My coop has a solid wood floor elavted about 2 inches off the ground.

 

[Wrooster]

Your situation is somewhat like ours and here's what I just said about it in another thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/821053/my-coop#post_11964490. However, ours is big enough to walk into. For a 3-foot square, I don't know if it would be worth the trouble. You could look into buying a shower pan or look for something else that would fit.

If you do concrete it should be 4" deep. It should have metal inside or it will crack. Concrete pre-mix bags typically weigh 80 pounds and make 6/10 of a cubic foot. 3 feet by 3 feet by 1/3 of a foot is 3 cubic feet so you'd need several bags. When I started this reply I was thinking "Sure - do the concrete." Having done the math, I don't think I would.

I'd put in on a piece of treated plywood with something over it and replace the floor when you need to.

BTW, I hope you'll be able to lift the roof off or something so you can clean it out without crawling in on your hands and knees. Good luck.

 

[nascarjunkie1]

This is what mine looks like

Then with out the run.

 

[mommy25babies]

We have a small coop with attached run that is dirt and sand with shavings. We don't use hay as it rots quickly here in fl. Shavings keeps things drier in my opinion and clumps the poop. We took a concrete table top someone was giving away and used it to put our elevated coop on ita great..a great area for the girls to cool off to and super easy to clean we just wash it down.. Other ideas we used were 12X12 pavers. Our run is attached to coop and the coop is elevated two feet as seen in pictures.