What to put on the bottom of my coop and run

[gabz44]

Hi
I am a 1st time chicken owner and getting ready to transition my 6 chicks to my coop. I'm so confused Bc reading so many different opinions on what to put in my coop and run. I'm outside of Los Angeles and its high 50s/60s during day and 30s at night.

Coop (wood bottom)-- shavings???

Run (brick bottom) - dirt? Sand? Any other suggestions??

Also do you suggest I put a rubber mat on the bottom of coop or run so I can easily hose it off???
Thanks for any and all advice!
See pic of coop attached

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

It looks like your floor is wood? Then yes I would put rubber down first. On top of that use what ever is most available to you. I personally use straw, others use wood chips, mulch, ect, what is really important is to use whatever you have or can easily get.

 

[gabz44]

Yes it's wood. Will put down rubber. For the run I have a brick bottom. Do I pour dirt on top of the brick? Or sand? Something else? What do you suggest?

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I personally would do dirt under straw (but I have straw) you want to give them something to dig through, maybe get lucky and find a bug in. Sand would be good too. But really whatever you have easily available. Grass clippings in the summer are wonderful for them, wood chips have a nice fresh smell, straw is usually cheapest, but whatever you have available.

 

[gabz44]

Silly question but do I buy dirt at the local Home Depot or a feed store? I don't have any extra on my property...

 

[FridayYet]

When I had a small coop like that I just covered the bottom of the coop in PDZ and sand. (Painted the wood floor with a fence/deck sealer first.

Scooped it out every other day with a long handed kitty litter scoop and put the waste in the compost.

Are you going to let your birds out in the yard sometimes?

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Silly question but do I buy dirt at the local Home Depot or a feed store? I don't have any extra on my property...

You do not have a garden? Do not use potting soil, they put other things in that. I know you can buy dirt, but I have never had to so do not know where. I would go with sand, you can get that at any store. It would give your hens a bit of grit too.

 

[gabz44]

@FridayYetOk thank you- yes I will let them out but need to build a type of enclosed area because my yard is very open and we do see Hawks so afraid they will swoop down and get them.

 

[gabz44]

@OrganicFarmWife no we just moved here and we don't have a garden yet. I plan on having one in the spring. I can get sand though at a local store. So put sand down with straw on top? Or just sand ?

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Sand would help absorb moisture and give them grit. The straw would give them something to do, chickens like rooting through stuff. So personally I would sand the coop (deck sealer is a great idea) and run then straw in the run. this way generally you would just need to sweep out your coop, and you could wash it down when nessisary.