Having a chicken coop without a floor can come with many challenges including infestations of mice and rats.
Natural floor chicken coop.
You will be amazed at the amount of dust a chicken coop can hide in the corners.
Chicken coop flooring is important because you want to try to provide flooring for your birds that will help support the way they function and learn.
Adding shavings to your coop floor helps to negate cold weather by providing something that easily warms for your chickens to walk on.
Choosing which is best for you depends on your location and individual needs.
My mixed flock hen house has a natural sand floor and i use deep litter method which works well for me.
Solutions to many of the cons associated with flooring materials.
Still some chicken keepers swear by the dirt floor method and have discovered numerous ways to deal with the inherent problems.
Though i have used all three in the past personally i like the natural floor better.
It will have 2 inch x 2 inch supports every 2 feet apart that will support the wire and be the surface the wire mesh can be nailed onto.
Many chicken owners line their nesting box with the pine shavings you can pick up at your pet or feed store as it gives their hens something to move around and nest in.
Hardware cloth or wire mesh is also a fairly common type of chicken coop flooring.
I find nothing works better than a good broom.
Flooring materials vary widely in quality cost maintenance needs and safety.
The walls the corners the floor the air vents windows even the ceiling.
Chickens can fly fairly well for short distances but in essence they re ground birds.
In this article you will learn.
Get in there and sweep it all down.
Good chicken coop flooring is safe predator and rodent proof durable and easy to clean.
The pros and cons of using the 8 most common chicken coop flooring materials.
Another coop has concrete floor with deep litter as well.
Both are easy to clean but i think the natural earth breathes better.
Backyard free ranging was tried it really was but ultimately rejected in favor of a more.
There are many types of materials that you can use and each has its pros and cons.
So think about it.
I had seen and heard of a few neighbors keeping chickens using a method called natural korean farming nkf.
First we went from a tiny unworkable coop for two birds to a spacious well designed and attractive coop that can comfortably house 8 to 12 hens.
This type of flooring is essentially nailed or stapled in as the floor of the coop.
Experience drove multiple experiments to increase the efficiency and cleanliness of the coop.
Essentially you can coop up a large number of hens in a hen house and it doesn t smell from chicken manure because it contains a living floor that absorbs the poop and smell.
Chicken coop floor material now that we know the benefits of having a floor we can discuss the best chicken coop flooring material.