Protecting the chicken coop floor with vinyl

I'm sure you've noticed that the wettest part of the chicken coop is often where they poop the most. Being that most coops are wood, wet poop laying on wood for any length of time is not a good thing! This is why droppings boards are so awesome. 

Mounted just below the roosts, droppings boards (or poop boards as they're commonly referred to) catch the poop before it hits the floor. Poop boards can be cleaned easily (or replaced) keeping the wood floor dry underneath. However, there are some areas in our larger coops where placing droppings boards would be impossible. 

In the largest coop, some of the Guineas have decided against the roosts and instead prefer roosting on the ceiling braces. This puts them directly above the middle of the coop....and 7 feet up! No way to use a droppings board here. Instead we've decided to protect the floor...on the floor.

How to protect the chicken coop floor

First I started by giving the coop a through cleaning. Scrape clean, let dry, then sweep to get any remaining dirt up. Lay vinyl remnants on the chicken coop floor right under the roosts. You can tack down the corners if they start to curl. Then simply cover with the bedding of your choice and your done! 

I've found a plastic hay rake slides right along the vinyl when cleaning up and makes it easy to remove the messiest part of the bedding without disturbing the rest. Why vinyl remnants? Well for one they're cheaper then stall mats or custom cut rubber flooring. Sometimes they're even free. They're easy to cut with a good pair of scissors or utility knife (ever try to cut rubber mats? ugh!) and they clean up easy. 

You can find small or odd sizes of vinyl flooring at any home improvement store....or Craigslist. Floors in the smallest coops can be covered completely if you'd like. Lastly, if you feel like spending a few $$ you can get vinyl flooring in almost any pattern or color you want! I think I'll get something in blue for the grow out pen!

~L

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