Wire Floors in a Chicken Coop?

[BlackIowaDirt]

Hello,
Just constructed my first coop, but am worried about the flooring.

I got conflicting information as I was building it, so I figured I'd ask folks here....

1) Currently, the coop floor is made of 1 inch honey comb chicken wire.
2) The roosts are on the side walls.
3) Nexting boxes are in the rear.

So, my question:
1) Will chicken wire hurt their feet?
2) Should I cover the center of the coop with wood, and leave the wire under the roosts, so they poop to the ground?
3) Should I cover the center of the coop with vinyl flooring (i have a ton of it leftover), so its easy to clean? Just spray it and the water/feces runs through the wire?
3) Should I just leave it as-is?


Why did I do this?
1) The coop is now 1 foot off the ground (this pic is old). I want to rake the poop from beneath it and put in my compost pile.
2) I was going to have it as a tractor, and fertilize as we went, but the thing is too heavy. Gonna have it static now.
3) I heard it was easy to clean.




Thanks for your time.
devin

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Hi Devin.

A lot of posts that I have read have stated that while in theory, the poop dropping through the chicken wire sounds good, it generally doesn't work out that well. Chicken poop can be larger than the holes and it just gets hung up and stuck to the wire. Some people have also said that the wire is hard on their feet as well.

I don't know where you live, but having that open space under them, since you now have it raised, could also get pretty drafty. Ventilation should be above their heads, not from below.

I just have a plywood floor with no finish or linoleum. I have a good layer of pine shavings on the floor. I have a poop board under the roost to catch the majority of the nights droppings and those go into the compost daily. Any big wet clumps on the floor I scoop out with a trowel and dump that into the compost. I add shavings as needed, and add DE to keep things nice and dry. I think it's pretty easy.

Perhaps you will find someone who has used your method successfully. It will be interesting to find out.

Best of luck to you!

 

[BlackIowaDirt]

Thanks for the reply.
I guess I will cut a piece of plywood and put it in there with wood shavings. If nothing else, the wire will help keep rodents from getting through, so its not a total loss.