what do use on the floor of your coop please

[furball]

Coop Floor? has anyone used the non stick teflon sheeting that you can put in the bottom of the oven? Would this be harmful to chooks. Would it have to be glued down ? I am trying to find an easy clean idea for the coop floor. Any ideas gratefully received

[Birdie Wife]

Hi furball,

Can't say I've heard of anyone using teflon before, sounds like an expensive solution to me, unless you have a supply you want to re-use for something? The floor of my coop is exterior plywood, varnished and covered thickly with sawdust. The sawdust mops up all the faeces and I clean it out every couple of weeks. The ply is easy to clean, I've never had to do any scrubbing.

[roitelet]

The best thing that I have found for the floor of the coop is Woodchip. It must be dust free and is sold especially for animal bedding. The larger the bale you can buy the cheaper it is.

Put a good thick layer in the coop and as it is very absorbant you only need to clean out as necessary. I put a layer of cardboard underneath so nothing sticks to the floor of the run.

When I clean out the whole lot goes on the Compost heap which helps to activate it .

PS. I also use it for cat litter and it is much better than the proper commercial stuff and much cheaper. Same treatment for disposal after removing the lumpy bits to the bin.

[Jardiniere]

I use sawdust when i can get it for nothing but the woodchip we produce when we chop our wood is too coarse.
Luckily when i bought the barn next door last year its loft had loads of straw bales so i'm using straw in the boxes.
I then put the straw on the compost heap like Roitelet

[furball]

Thankyou, can i also use the straw from the rabbit hutch on my compost heap.

[yoanbob]

yes you can. would think the chooks would eventually find a way to unravel the teflon, there claws are quiet sharp, we used a mixture of straw and sawdust (make sure its suitable for bedding) and just emptied every week into the barrow then on the compost, took 10 mins.

[kirsty b]

I use a thick layer of straw in this cold weather, but have tried Hemcore and like it. Plan to use it again when weather gets warmer with straw for the boxes. At the mo, as I pull it out the shed, I'm spreading it as a mulch on unused ground to be dug in well before any planting.

[Akela Ben]

I use sawdust and the chickens seem to love it. If I use hay or straw, which they don't seem to like, it all gets kicked straight out the door within a couple of days. At least the sawdust stays in the nesting boxes and the girls make it all nice and cosy for themselves.

[shirlthegirl43]

We used to use a combination of wood shavings and straw. The best way to keep cleaning as an easy chore is to do it regularly. If you leave the chooks all winter you will have a nasty job but if you clean out whenever it is a dry day then it takes no time at all. You can put the straw that is still clean and dry to one side and re-use it with fresh shavings or whatever underneath.

[TPeers]

I line the coop floor with a piece of lino - the dust extracted woodchip or what have you goes on top of this. As others have said the woodchip absorbs most things and every so often I lift out the lino and wash it.

[jonny_s_p]

Hi,

I use a mixture of wood chips, recycled from when I cut my firewood with a chainsaw, on the floor and shredded paper in the nest boxes. The paper is the long strands not the cross cut ones. The chickens seem to love the paper, they gather it up around them to form nests and seem very content. I get the paper from my work and I always chuckle when I see remnants of a large value shredded cheque. It must be the most expensive nesting material

Jonny

[bravo2zero]

the best stuff to use is Hemcore £7 per bale , then wood shavings from the local woodyard/mill free and finally wheat straw. i use hemcore as a bedding for chicks which need a deep litter before being set free after growing on.i use wood shavings as a deep litter for the birds house, weekly riddling the droppings for application to the soil from september till february, after six weeks it needs replacing and the old stuff gets tipped onto the compost bin . i never use wheat staw in the shed as it is not absorbent enough instead i spread a bale in their run for them to scratch in eventually turning it into a mulch which is stored in a dry compost bin or its added as brown matter to my compost bins , hence i have not had to buy any manure for four years cos my five compost bins are constantly in use only one is empty at any one time

[Snadger]

the best stuff to use is Hemcore £7 per bale , then wood shavings from the local woodyard/mill free and finally wheat straw. i use hemcore as a bedding for chicks which need a deep litter before being set free after growing on.i use wood shavings as a deep litter for the birds house, weekly riddling the droppings for application to the soil from september till february, after six weeks it needs replacing and the old stuff gets tipped onto the compost bin . i never use wheat staw in the shed as it is not absorbent enough instead i spread a bale in their run for them to scratch in eventually turning it into a mulch which is stored in a dry compost bin or its added as brown matter to my compost bins , hence i have not had to buy any manure for four years cos my five compost bins are constantly in use only one is empty at any one time

How many chooks?

[bravo2zero]

dear snadger, i have 12 lohmanns hens in a 6x8 shed set into a run of about 25x25 with a gate. they have total free range of the run and shed. the shed is a bit big but i got it for nothing.

[heebiejeebie]

I use a layer of newspaper (about 4-6 sheets thick) with dust-extracted wood shavings on top. To clean out, I pull out & roll up the newspaper with the wood shavings still on and shake it iver the compost bin. Paper, wood shavings and straw in the nest boxes.