Floor for chicken coop

[The Large One]

What do people use for chicken run floor?
In a poultry magazine we have seen rubber pellets

Mud management for chicken runs and duck areas. Rubber chippings.

Since we will be first time cook owners v.soon will this be ok ? Anybody use them already or would wood shavings or bare earth b better
Where we will be siting the coop it will be difficult to move it around the garden for space reasons so worried about souring the location

Nick

[Lottieknees]

floor

did you mean the coop or the run? I know of people having those rubber chippings in the run.

Woodchippings (not bark) is a popular one as is sharp sand. Aubiose is another good one. I use Hempcore. It has an insecticidal in it to deter flies. I also find it really easy to poop pick the run as it kind of dries them up. I have the tongs from an old BBQ set that I use to put them in a tub and on the compost it goes.

Simples

[The Large One]

Yes, I mean in the run
Thanks for the suggestion on hemp core, will look into that
Anybody else have experience of the rubber chips. ?

[chris]

I put down a concrete base, and top it with wood shavings... Not great in wet weather, as they turn to a muddy slosh. I'll be using wood chip over winter.

Rubber ones can be washed down, but I decided not use them as I wanted the run material for compost.

[Snadger]

A 'rubber crumb' pitch is a forth generation astro turf training pitch. It has also been cleared by the FA to be used as a match pitch in some leagues.
Appears to be the same stuff? so if its good enough for football/rugby players and is supposed to be less problematic on the knee joints, it should be ok for chooks!

Granted, rugby/footballers don't crap on it....................not usually anyway!

[Suechooks]

If you're using anything that's meant for stables (as shavings, Hemcore, Rapport, Aubiose, Easibed etc all are) you'll need to have the run covered. All of those are good for the coop floor and nest boxes.
Wood chips are about best and cheapest for the run. You can clear them out every few weeks/months depending on run size. Its a good idea to worm the hens just before you clear the run out.
If you can find a local tree surgeon they'll usually let you have a load for a few quid as they have to dispose of them and would have to pay the councils for that.
The rubber chips would limit the birds scratting about I should think as they look quite big although in theory they should keep clean as they're meant to be put on a membrane base to enable them to be hosed down.

[chris]

Sue, I find that the welsh horizontal rain makes my covered run useless I plan to put some reed screening or similar on the sides to help keep some of the rain out..

[Suechooks]

Sue, I find that the welsh horizontal rain makes my covered run useless I plan to put some reed screening or similar on the sides to help keep some of the rain out..

I put some sort of screening on the side of the prevailing wind on my runs. (We have the horizontal rain too and my plot is an the east end of the site so it sweeps across with very little resistance till it gets to me!) It's not perfect but definitely helps. I use reed screen with some polythene on lower part, or feather board or fence panels. I do have shelters in the runs too - various configurations of inverted plastic dog beds raised up on a tyre or 2, corrugated clear plastic also raised on tyres, an old wheelbarrow inverted over an old chair.

[chris]

Ah, bugger that Mine aren't in their run (only if we're away) - it's not that large (~4.5 m^2?), just houses the coop + food/water. They can shelter behind the greenhouse if they want to, or in my raspberry beds - usually though their back-side end into the wind, showing off a nice skirt or bare botty depending on which end you look at hehe

Polythene sounds a good idea, I might try that behind some reed thanks!

[petal]

i use beddown traditional horse bedding in the coop, straw for nest boxes and get wood chip delivered for the runs from a tree surgeon(free) After a few months this gets rotavated in then re laid with more wood chip.

[Newtothis]

I've used wood chippings - from a tree surgeon chap up the road - really cheap, just cost the price of a drink. I've put them about 8 inches deep in the run and the girls love them....they're digging to Australia most days. I just poo pick and rake them level so they can scratch about again.
I intend to change them every few months and use the old stuff as mulch in the garden.
The run is covered though, but just with a tarp. and wire.

[veggiechicken]

I used to dry off the grass cuttings from the lawn on a tarpaulin in the sun. When really dry, bag it up. Line the nest boxes with newspaper and put handfuls of dry grass cuttings on top. Each week, empty the nest box cuttings onto the floor of the shed (also covered with newspaper), usually mixed with some wood shavings from log cutting. Let that mixture build up for a few weeks, then rake it out into the run by which time it would be full of droppings. Burn or bin the smelly paper. Let the grass/sawdust. droppings mix build up for as long as you like. The chooks turn it over frequently and it composts quite quickly. Add more dry grass or sawdust if its too wet or smelly. Then rake it out onto the garden or add to the compost heap. Most of the time the chooks roamed freely around the garden - and kitchen when the door was open. they're great at clearing up the toast crumbs!

[Hilary B]

I presume the rubber stuff you are talking about is what is often used for horse schooling areas (out of doors, wetherproof and should be hose-down-able). No idea about it for chooks, but would worry the occasional venturesome one might decide to have a taste. The drawback I know about is that in hot weather it smells of rubber.....

[The Large One]

Well, thanks for replies and advice
We have decided after seeing the prices for the rubber crumb that it will be wood shavings and have visited our local Countrywise which is but a stone throw away but had never had cause to visit, what a place, all under one roof

All excited now as coop "should" be delivered and constructed tomorrow