What to put on the coop floor - new coop

[UnionMan]

With the sand method my coop is 7x10 feet I have 9 laying hens in that coop and it takes about 6 50 pound bags of sand to put about a 3 inch layer of sand in the floor. Every couple days I walk around and scoop out the poop in the coop. I also use a poop board filled with SweetPDZ under my roost pole. I've recently added this feature. I use to have teard roost poles but notice there is less pecking with the one level roost. I also use a kitty litter scoop once every couple days to clean off the poop board. It makes for a very clean coop. My birds are in the run most of the day. I go months without having to change out sand and SweetPDZ. Just keep on top of the cleanings. Here's some pics of my setup.

 

[joeyfender]

Could I use sand here in Texas? I am working on building a three sided coop with run.

 

[4 the Birds]

Could I use sand here in Texas? I am working on building a three sided coop with run.

I don't know why not... Sand coops sure make for a really clean coop. Good Luck!

 

[Shellz]

With the sand method my coop is 7x10 feet I have 9 laying hens in that coop and it takes about 6 50 pound bags of sand to put about a 3 inch layer of sand in the floor. Every couple days I walk around and scoop out the poop in the coop. I also use a poop board filled with SweetPDZ under my roost pole. I've recently added this feature. I use to have teard roost poles but notice there is less pecking with the one level roost. I also use a kitty litter scoop once every couple days to clean off the poop board. It makes for a very clean coop. My birds are in the run most of the day. I go months without having to change out sand and SweetPDZ. Just keep on top of the cleanings. Here's some pics of my setup.

That looks like my set up! I just had hubby put in a poop board with 2 level roosts for 11 birds. I used to do deep litter & hate it in spring! Birds weren't enough to aerate the litter & was a stinking mess come spring! Now with poop board, is easy to scoop most of their mess! Will do sand floor later. When fall approaches, I'll top sand with soft straw. Very cold in winter here. Hope you find something that works for you!

 

[Shellz]

And there it is! I should have done this from the beginning! Oh well. Most poop seems to occur in the night, so this is where most of it will be. Best idea ever!!!

 

[epluim]

Can I ask a quick question about composting chicken waste without derailing the thread? Does the waste/litter need to "season" before being applied to a garden like other manures do? Or can it go directly out to the garden?

 

[Shellz]

Needs to age a bit. Yes. Fresh chicken manure can burn. There are other animals manure you can use fresh & I believe they are goats, llamas, alpacas.....any others I might have left out?

 

[mickey662]

I'm in the process of building my coop would aluminum sheeting be ok for the floor covering I have 5x10 sheets it would be easy to clean and never wear out or rust

 

[aart]

Needs to age a bit. Yes. Fresh chicken manure can burn. There are other animals manure you can use fresh & I believe they are goats, llamas, alpacas.....any others I might have left out?

Rabbit is the only one I know for sure can be put on fresh.

 

[David LaFerney]

My covered run is 12'x12' - put about a foot of leaves in there last fall, and it has worked great. It very quickly got shredded up pretty fine and reduced to about half of the original volume. We throw scratch feed on it, and the chickens constantly dig through it - manure gets mixed in and you hardly ever see or smell it at all.