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How to Design the Floor of a Chicken Coop

The best floor for your chicken coop may be no floor at all. Unless you're operating a large-scale egg and chicken operation, requiring tile or concrete, you'll probably be working with wood -- or nothing at all. If you do use the earth, though, make sure to follow the right procedures or you could be left with a mess of sick and unhappy chickens.

Things You'll Need

Pine shavings
Biological composting agent (if desired)

Instructions

- 1
  Decide the kind of coop that you'll need and where -- figure on having about 1 square foot of chicken house for every bantam chicken you plan to have live there, about 1.5-square-feet for every laying hen and about 2-square-feet for every large chicken.
- 2
  Plan to have an adjoining fenced-in chicken run that offers at least 4-square-feet of space per bantam chicken, 8-square-feet of run for laying hens and 10-square-feet for large chickens.
- 3
  Treat any wood you plan to use as the floor of your coop with a sealant that will resist corrosion and mildew.
- 4
  Place litter over the entire floor area in the coop. Pine shavings are common.
- 5
  Include a dropping pit on your final design, with regularly cleanings and bedding changes, and you could potty-train your chickens to keep much of their waste flowing out of the coop.
- 6
  Change bedding every week, especially if you haven't installed a dropping bin or incorporated a composting agent.
- 7
  Use a composting agent to prevent the caking and stink of manure. Sift this flour-like material onto your litter according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Animals & Science