What kind of flooring in your coop is the best??

[Rosie]

I built a chicken coop last week and it has a dirt floor. I see that a lot of people have wood. Which is best?

 

[Gracefulspice]

I have lynolium<----(spelled right?) on the floor. I have wood shavings on top of that. Makes for easy clean up!! Especially when I go to disinfect it. I would think wood you would have to scrub pretty well to get the poop out. I'm not sure how you would go about disinfecting if it was a dirt floor. See what others have to say too.

 

[Llysse]

That's the same thing I did on my florr: wood covered with linoleum for easy clean-up (and to prevent the wood from eventually rotting from possible moisture).

Dirt floors are actually nice because the moisture can drain away, presuming the area itself isn't mucky. However, the worry is always that you might have a predator burrow in. Concrete or stone is nice but EXPENSIVE!

 

[skeeter9]

I live in California, so I don't get the harsh winters that some of you guys get. Well, we do get several days of snow every year, but our lows only get into the 20's usually.

Anyway, my coop has a dirt floor and I love it. I can clean it out with a rake and spray disinfectant right on the dirt. I usually keep straw on top of the dirt in the winter, but in the summer I don't put anything down. I also haven't had any problems with mites or anything like that.

Around the outside edge of the coop and run I dug a small ditch (about 6 inches deep and 4 inches wide) and put post hole cement in it. You know, the kind you don't have to mix with water. Predators are unable to dig past it. We have raccoons, coyotes, wild boar, rats, mice, foxes, bobcats, wild dogs, etc. We can see where things have tried to dig in or pull the wire apart, but nothing has been able to get in.

Hope this helps and good luck with your coop,

Lori

 

[justusnak]

My coop has a dirt/gravel floor. I love the ease of cleaning it. I layer straw on half of it, and leave the rest bare...in the summer months. The chickens love to dust bath in there, on wet days..they have dry dirt. In the winter, I layer they whole floor with straw...they like to snuggle down in the straw for warmth. I guess it depends on how much you want to spend...and how big your coop is. Mine currently house 40 + birds..all are happy and healthy!

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

Raised wood floor covered with rubber mats and pine shavings on top.

 

[catballou24]

right now our's is dirt. we are getting our chicks today so i will be putting down pine shavings for them as well as straw. (the chicks are about 3 weeks old, so will be in the coop very very soon).

 

[Critter Crazy]

Our floor is made from recycled Wooden Construction signs, they have a Plastic coating on top, that makes for easy and simple clean up. We cover that with our straw, and we are good to go.

 

[tysonandperdue]

The wooden coop is raised off the ground and I put horse stall mats on top of the wooden floor. Just cut them down to size, sprinkle some DE on them and cover them with shavings and you're done. I acutally put some DE in between the wood floor and the rubber mat too. The stall mats are extremely easy to clean and very durable.

 

[M.J]

I Use a treated wood for the floor of all my chicken coops about 2 to 3 inches off the ground so that no flooding happens and to help keep the bedding clean.