Does your craven coop need a floor?

"Ane winter I started noticing a lot of mice in the poultry business firm… the litter and the wire partitions appeared to be boiling with the little rodents…"
— Harvey Ussery, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, p. 150

Having a chicken coop without a floor can come up with many challenges, including infestations of mice and rats. Still, some chicken keepers swear by the clay floor method, and accept discovered numerous ways to bargain with the inherent problems.

There are many reasons you may want a coop without a floor. Possibly y'all accept access to a coop, or a building yous desire to convert into a coop, that has no floor, and y'all want to brand it work. Maybe you've struggled with the floor y'all currently have, and wonder if you demand information technology at all. Maybe y'all want to try the deep litter method, and you know that it works best on the bare basis. Or maybe you just want to continue things equally simple and low-maintenance as possible.

Whatever the reason, yous're probably worried a dirt floor may not be healthy for your chickens or may exist hard to clean. You desire to be certain that your coop design keeps your hens healthy and happy.

And so, does your craven coop need a floor? Non all chicken coops need floors, particularly those that utilise the deep litter method, have soil that drains well, and are well-designed to keep out predators. Nevertheless, many coops without floors allow piece of cake admission for rodents and burrowing predators, are hard to clean, and add as well much wet to the coop.

In this article, you lot'll learn the pros and cons of having a chicken coop without a floor, and you lot'll learn some solutions for problems you may encounter.

If you want to acquire more than about what options you accept for craven coop floors, bank check out my article, 8 chicken coop floor options: The best flooring materials.

Before we jump in, I just want to be clear that I am not talking about summer chicken tractors in this article. These are mobile coops that have no floors because they are moved to fresh grass every day. To larn more nearly these coops, bank check out my article, DIY A-Frame chicken coops: Fast, inexpensive, and easy to build.

In this article, I'g referring to stationary coops that have no floor.

In this article, you will acquire:

  • The pros to a craven coop with no flooring

  • The cons to a chicken coop with no floor

  • The deep litter method in a chicken coop with no floor

  • Solutions to the problems of a dirt flooring in your coop

This post contains affiliate links for my favorite products from Amazon and Rita Marie's Chicken Coops. Equally an Amazon and Rita Marie'due south Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no actress cost to you.

4 pros to chicken coops without floors

Chicken coops without floors are:

  1. Lower in toll to build

  2. Simpler to build

  3. Cooler in warm atmospheric condition

  4. Ideal for the deep litter method

Come across more on the deep litter method below.

five cons to chicken coops without floors:

Chicken coops without floors may:

  1. Let predators to burrow into the coop

  2. Let rodents to couch into the coop

  3. Go likewise moist, resulting in illness and/or frostbite in your chickens

  4. Be incredibly hard to make clean

  5. Be colder in the winter

See some solutions to these problems below.

Using the deep litter method on a dirt floor

The deep litter method (as well chosen the deep bedding method) is used by many craven keepers equally a means of composting bedding and debris. For this method, you demand to use a thick layer of organic bedding in your coop, such every bit wood shavings or straw.

However, wood shavings are very probable TOXIC to your chickens, and I don't recommend using them in any scenario. If you must apply them, aspen is your safest option. Harbinger is a much safer choice, although you practice demand to watch out for molds. See more about this in my articles:

  • Pino shavings in the coop: The secret craven killer?

  • Why you lot should NEVER apply cedar bedding in your chicken coop

  • A comparison of 21+ bedding types

  • Using straw in the chicken coop

For the deep litter method to work, you will demand to continuously add together bedding to the coop floor as needed (before ammonia build-upwardly begins). You will likewise demand to turn the bedding (or have the chickens turn the bedding) daily.

If done correctly, the bedding and chicken droppings volition compost into a rich, fertile soil that you tin can use on your garden.

If y'all want to utilise the deep litter method in your coop, you lot will exist virtually successful if your coop doesn't have a flooring. This is due to two reasons:

  1. The bare globe contains microbes that are necessary for composting deep litter. These microbes will come out of the ground and into your litter.

  2. The bare globe adds moisture to your litter. This moisture supports the microbes that are necessary for composting your litter.

You tin nonetheless apply the deep litter method if your chicken coop has a flooring, but your bedding volition not fully compost in the coop. You will need to make clean the bedding out and let it finish composting on the bare ground.

If yous are interested in the deep litter method on a bare floor, I highly recommend you read Harvey Ussery'south book, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock. Ussery is a veteran chicken keeper who has used the deep litter method for decades.

Solutions to the problems that come with having no chicken coop floor

How to stop burrowing predators

If you don't have a craven coop floor, you lot may have problems with burrowing predators, such equally foxes, dogs, raccoons, and skunks. These predators can easily dig under your coop walls and into your coop, where they may happily kill all of your chickens. There are a couple of different ways you can forbid this.

Your best choice is to dig a narrow, pes-deep hole around the perimeter of your coop, attach hardware cloth to the bottom of your coop and into the hole, and then fill in the hole. This way, whatever fauna that tries to burrow under the coop will exist blocked by the hardware cloth.

You lot may also bury metal flashers instead of hardware cloth.

Another option is to dig a pigsty around the perimeter of the coop that is 4-vi inches broad and a human foot deep, and cascade mail service hole cement into information technology. This will also provide a hard barrier to burrowing predators.

Y'all may also desire to consider using electric poultry netting around the coop. You lot can detect poultry netting here on Amazon. The netting protects against many predators because they tend to touch on their sensitive noses against it when they try to couch underneath. The electric shock can exist incredibly painful for them.

For everything you lot may want to know nearly poultry netting, I again recommend Harvey Ussery'southward book, The Pocket-size-Scale Poultry Flock.

And for more help on how to go on predators out of your coop and run, check out Gail Damerow's excellent book, What's Killing My Chickens?: The Poultry Predator Detective Manual.

How to stop burrowing rodents

Some of the methods described in the section above may assistance to reduce some rodent activity, but rodents will yet likely be a problem for you.

You definitely want to keep rodents out of the coop because they can carry many diseases that can be fatal to your chickens. Some rodents may also bite your chickens during the night, and rats accept been known to swallow chicks.

If your chicken coop has no floor, the best style to prevent rodent activeness is to never accept food inside your coop. In The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, Harvey Ussery wrote that when he had feed in his coops:

"Despite trapping a couple dozen mice per dark, there was no discernible outcome whatever on the population level."
— Harvey Ussery, p. 150

When Ussery stopped feeding his chickens in his coops, he said that a few mice continued to become into his coops, "simply they take never again approached biblical plague proportions."

If you practise end upwards with an infestation of mice or rats in your coop, I highly suggest you take a look at Cath Andrews' blog, Raising Happy Chickens. Cath has a lot of experience with rodent infestations in her coop and has written several helpful articles on the topic. Click here for her guide on getting rid of rodents.

How to know if your coop will be as well moist without a floor

In some regions, you will not be able to get away with having no floor in your chicken coop. If you live in an area that is prone to even small flooding, you will need an elevated coop with a floor.

If you live in an surface area that has soil that doesn't drain well, you lot definitely will need a floor for your coop. For example, I could never have a craven coop without a floor considering my soil is dirt-rich. Despite the fact I live in a adequately barren region in southwest Idaho, even afterward a unmarried brief pelting, the soil here turns into a muddied mess with pools of water.

If I let this muddied mess be my coop floor, the chicken coop would be exposed to fashion too much moisture.

Moisture causes several problems, including:

  • The back up of unsafe pathogens, such as molds and ammonia-producing bacteria

  • Increasing your chickens susceptibility to frostbite, should the temperature drop to freezing

  • A wet and, therefore, uncomfortable coop floor for your chickens.

Your chickens' feet tin get encased in mud, and if their feathers go wet, they will have a very hard time staying warm.

Similarly, if you are using bedding on your blank world floor and it gets wet, your craven coop volition be at a high take a chance for the growth of unsafe mold and leaner.

The bottom line is this: Exercise not consider a chicken coop without a floor, unless y'all take sandy soil that drains very well.

How to clean a dirt floor

A major problem with having a coop with no floor is that the chicken droppings can exist difficult to remove. If you're non using bedding, the droppings volition become trampled by the chickens and they will get packed downwards. Dissimilar with chicken coops that take floors, you won't exist able to just scrape or sweep the debris out.

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If your chickens will be spending a lot of time in the coop, you lot volition likely need to have a floor in the coop, or you will demand to utilise bedding. Y'all volition have such a hard fourth dimension keeping the floor make clean otherwise.

If, on the other hand, you accept free range chickens, who only use the coop at night, you might exist able to get away with a bare floor. For more on this topic, check out my article, What is craven coop bedding and do you need it?

Some chicken keepers who accept coops without floors have said that they rake the debris out.

Others take suggested making sure the floor is slightly sloped toward the door. This way, you tin spray the droppings out with a hose. The water and debris should drain down the slope and out of the coop door. This would be a terrible thought in the winter, withal. You don't want to add any moisture to your coop.

However, if yous are using bedding on your clay floor, the difficulty of cleaning becomes much less of a problem. You volition remove about of the droppings with the bedding.

If yous are using the deep litter method correctly, then you don't take to worry about cleaning debris at all. The droppings and litter will compost to a beautiful soil.

Will a coop with no floor be as well common cold in the winter?

If your coop is well-ventilated, it'southward going to be cold in at that place no matter what. If you don't have a coop floor, y'all may want to consider using bedding in the winter. Organic bedding has insulating properties, and it may help to keep your coop slightly warmer.

I, still, prefer inorganic bedding (sand) as the science suggests it's healthier for your chickens. However, you practise run the risk of sand freezing in the winter if you're putting it on the bare ground, not a skillful thing for your chickens.

For more on this topic, see my articles:

  • The best chicken coop bedding: Sand vs. straw vs. pine shavings

  • Using sand in the chicken coop

  • A comparison of 21+ chicken coop bedding materials

The deep bedding method may likewise help. The decomposition of the bedding will release some warmth, but nonetheless typically not enough to heat a well-ventilated coop.

If yous take cold winters, consider heating the coop with safe heating options. I utilize Sweeter Heaters from Amazon above the roosting bars in my coops (a godsend for my chickens), and I use radiant heaters for added warmth.

Take more than questions near craven coops?

There are many qualities y'all'll need for a great chicken coop. Cheque out my free grooming, Craven coops 101: Design your chickens' dream home, for all the specifics on exactly what your chicken coop needs, including detailed measurements.

And if yous're interested in but purchasing a high-quality prebuilt coop, I highly recommend Rita Marie's Chicken Coops.

Check out my review of my Rita Marie'due south craven coop, The BEST luxury coop you lot'll ever buy: Spoil your chickens with Rita Marie'due south.

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