Which flooring and bedding to use?

[chickenbaguette]

Going to buy and convert a shed for my six chickens.
Which bedding is best to use - straw, wood shavings, etc?
And do wooden floors get damp/mouldy? Would it be better to put a plastic sheet down first and then bedding?
Thanks!

 

[TrystInn]

Yes, do put down something over the wood - it will save you much regret later on! Vinyl flooring works marvelously and can usually be gotten as remnants cheaply or even for free! Makes for easier cleaning, as well.

I can't recommend straw if you live in a wet part of the world, as we do. It gets moldy very easily and when wet, gets very heavy. We use shavings with DE here and I'm satisfied with it. In a dryer environment, I'd switch to barn dry pellets and sand, most likely, but this is the Pacific Northwest and shavings remain fairly light weight despite a bit of dampness.

 

[chickenbaguette]

I was thinking of putting a removable plastic sheet down which can be taken out and washed... it's very slippery, though, and vinyl sounds like a good idea. I think we might even already have some leftover stuff

We used to use straw and it smelt very nice but there was nowhere to store it where it would stay dry. They're on shavings at the moment which seems to work well so we might stick with them.
Thanks!

 

[crankster76]

vinyl flooring sounds like a good idea. thank you.

 

[EggyErin]

I have a vinyl remnant over wood with shavings on top of that. Works great and is easy to clean.

 

[smwaldrop]

We use sand. I clean once a day with a cat litter box scooper.

 

[colonel sander]

You can use vinyl or just paint the wood with a good exterior grade semi gloss or gloss paint. I chose the paint put on about 4 coats and have not had an issue yet. I use shavings for the bottom of my coop and also throw in some DE with them. When I do totaly clean it out I can wipe down the paint with a damp cloth and totaly clean it up. We have 6 also and that is not a big number so no need to worry about a big mess. I only clean the coop once a week and maybe replace all the shavings once a month.

 

[silkiechicken]

I just painted my floor with exterior latex paint. 3 or 4 layers... it was over a gallon of mismatch paint on a 6x8 floor. Use a whole bag of 4 cubic foot compressed pine for the bottom. Cleans up beautifully even in the wet PNW.

 

[chickenbaguette]

Thank you all!

 

[JackE]

I used a rubberized roofcoat product I got from Lowes. (Blackjack#57) Unlike vinyl or linolium, which will break down over time, the roofcoat becomes a permanent protector of the wood floor. Going on two years with my floor, and the rubber coat looks as good as it did when I first put it down. It totally seals the seam/gap where the wall meets the floor. That's important in a coop, because that's where moisture can get trapped and insect pests can hide there also. Over the rubber coated floor I have pine shavings, along with some sand up near the open front.
Jack