Heating the chicken coop with a warm floor. How and from what to make a floor in a chicken coop How to make floors in a chicken coop with your own hands

The productivity of chickens directly depends on the conditions of their keeping and feeding. The temperature in the room should be comfortable for laying hens, and this indicator largely depends on the quality of the flooring. In addition, it is important that rodents cannot get inside.

Rats and mice are carriers of various infections, and if a larger animal gets into the room through a tunnel, this can end very badly for the bird population. It’s quite easy to build a deck with your own hands; you only need the most minimal skills and knowledge of working with tools.

This article will tell you what the floor should be like, the features of each type, as well as some standards and little secrets of construction.

What should the floor be like in a chicken coop?

The floor in the chicken coop should perform the following functions:

• Protective. Rodents, potential carriers of infectious diseases, should not enter the chicken room. In addition, rats and mice are also competitors of birds in the food chain;
• Thermal insulating. In winter, when the cold sets in, the temperature in the chicken coop should be above zero. This is the only way to maintain proper production of laying hens.

• It is necessary to make a minimum slope to facilitate the cleaning of used litter and afterbirth;
• The floor level must exceed the ground level;
• The coating must be warm and impermeable to any liquid.

The floor in the chicken coop must be solid and made to last. Warm and reliable.

At the moment, there are three options for flooring in livestock buildings:

1. Earthy.
2. Concrete.
3. Wood.

Each of them has its own characteristics, ranging from laying techniques to the cost of materials.

Features of floor keeping of chickens

Many hobbyists keep chickens with other animals. But it is still more advisable to build a separate poultry house.

In homestead livestock farming, three types of chicken keeping are practiced:

• Floor;
• Floor with walking;
• Cellular.

Chickens are usually kept on the floor using bedding. On one square meter you can place 3-4 chickens, depending on what direction they are - egg or meat-egg. In winter, the planting area may be larger than in summer. Floor maintenance has the following advantages:

• It is more humane, since laying hens move freely around the chicken coop;
• Lower maintenance costs for the poultry farmer: there is no need to arrange cages;
• Free access of laying hens to feeders;
• Simplified poultry care.

But at the same time, this form of content also has its drawbacks. For example, slightly more feed is wasted as dry food is trampled into the litter.

If the poultry house is large in size, then the costs of heating, ventilation, and lighting increase.

Kinds

The floor is an integral part of the chicken room. The temperature of the poultry house and the health of the hens largely depend on it. Basically, three options are used: concrete, wooden and earthen floors. Each has both its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, before you start building a chicken coop, you also need to decide what kind of floor it will have. In addition to some construction skills, certain materials will be required. This can be concrete, brick, logs, planed boards of certain sizes. The simplest option is an earthen floor. It also has certain advantages and the material costs for its construction will be minimal. We'll talk about the advantages and disadvantages of different options later in the article.

Concrete

A simple option that does not require special skills. First, the foundation of the future poultry house is laid. To do this, you need to dig a trench 50 to 70 cm deep, build pedestals in the corners that rise 15–20 cm above the ground, and let the cement dry. Then fill the trench with gravel or broken bricks and fill everything with concrete. In the center of the area, which is surrounded by the foundation, that is, the future floor of the chicken coop, gravel is poured and filled with cement. Be sure to the door, if it is a small poultry house, there should be a slope of 2-3 cm. After the basic construction work has been completed, finely broken brick or gravel is brought into the future poultry house, laid, leveled and filled with concrete or cement mortar. The solution is prepared in the following proportions: 4 buckets of sand and a bucket of cement. Water is added, thoroughly mixing the solution until it has a semi-liquid, lump-free consistency.

When a small chicken room is being built, a foundation is not needed.

Features of concrete floor:

• Cold. Therefore, it is imperative to have deep bedding in such a room;
• Resistant to water and acids;
• Long lasting. That is, it can last quite a long time;
• Good protection against rodents and other pests.

Read about a chicken coop made from pallets with your own hands.

Zemlyanoy

The most economical option. It is preferable to make an adobe floor with boards rammed into it, or simply from clay and earth. This option can be used for keeping chickens, but bedding is required. Because the floor is not able to store heat in the cold season. In addition, in the ground, even well compacted, there will be many holes through which rodents will penetrate inside.

From a hygiene point of view, it is better to use compacted clay rather than soil. Since it mixes less with feed, chicken droppings, water, and therefore there will be little dirt in the room. You can first add clay with finely broken glass. This will help, and then lay another second ball of this mineral raw material, up to 10 cm high, and compact it well.

It is impossible to disinfect such a floor before moving birds.

Wood

Very often in homestead livestock farming, boards are used to furnish the floor of the poultry house. They are installed on the foundation. To install wooden flooring you will need boards 20–25 cm thick and wooden beams.

After completing the work, you need to carefully inspect the floor for loose nails and sharp edges.

Wooden flooring has its advantages:

• It does not freeze in the cold season and is able to maintain the desired temperature;
• When building a chicken coop, it is easy to install;
• If the boards fit well, then cleaning the floor from the afterbirth will not be difficult.

But this option also has its disadvantages:

Before placing the bird in the chicken coop, it is necessary to make and whitewash the flooring with lime, and then lay the bedding.

Which to choose

The choice, of course, is made by the owner, based on material capabilities, the size of the chicken coop, and its layout. Each option has both its positive and negative qualities:

• Wooden floor warm, but the boards will need to be changed periodically, as they become unusable. But doing this is not difficult at all;
• Concrete floor durable but cold. Therefore, they try to insulate it in every possible way. If you pour concrete and immediately lay boards butt over it, this will be a good way out of this problem;
• Dirt floor in chicken coops was ubiquitous on private plots in our country back in the middle of the last century. If there is no range, then the chickens constantly row in the ground, looking for some insects. But it will take longer to clean it up. True, when the soil is replaced with compacted clay, there will be less dirt from the water and food residues.

He will tell you how to make a chicken coop for laying hens with your own hands.

In winter, any flooring option requires chicken bedding. An exception may be a wooden one insulated with expanded clay.

Features of winter or floor insulation

A bird in a chicken coop lives in winter with virtually no exercise. He only sits on the floor at night, and spends the rest of the time on the floor. Therefore, it is necessary to insulate it for winter. And this must be done very carefully. Because hypothermia leads to respiratory diseases and arthritis. As a result, the productivity of the bird noticeably decreases, and in some of the most severe cases even leads to death. In winter, deep bedding is needed. Now they have become popular among livestock breeders, which are completely harmless to poultry. The principle of operation is simple. Microorganisms process bird droppings, and this produces heat (from 25 to 30 degrees). In addition to the fact that the droppings are recycled, there is no ammonia smell in the room. If it is not possible to buy ready-made fermentation bedding, various natural materials are used: dry leaves, straw, sawdust, etc. Peat is a very effective remedy.

Sawdust must be used in combination with moss or straw, because they absorb moisture very quickly. And this only makes the chickens’ paws colder.

Warm or deep litter

In order not to remove droppings daily, bedding is used in the poultry house. Thanks to biochemical processes, heat is released in it and a certain temperature is created in the room. The litter has an acidic environment and therefore some types of harmful microorganisms die, which reduces the likelihood of infectious diseases occurring. Read about diseases of laying hens.

Sawdust, straw, leaves, and shavings are used as bedding material. As well as coarse sand.

Depending on the age of the young animals, there are standards for the need for bedding material:

• Chickens. Layer thickness - 30 cm. Requirement per head for the entire period of keeping - from 8 to 10 kilograms;
• Replacement young stock. The thickness of the layer is from 15 to 20 cm, the need per head is from 2 to 3 kilograms.

Lay the bedding a week before purchasing the bird. You can do this in one go, or you can do it in stages, starting from 5–7 centimeters. Before laying, the floor in the poultry house is sprinkled with fluff at the rate of 500 grams per square meter.

He will tell you about feeding laying hens in winter.

How to make a bed

Once the type of floor has been selected, you can begin to work. But first you need to prepare the material and tools. It is necessary to calculate everything accurately so that there is not a lot of material left after construction, or there is not enough, for example, one board or a bag of cement. Then you’ll have to take time off from work and go get what’s missing. If the chicken coop is small in area, then it will be cheaper to make concrete yourself. Hiring an industrial concrete mixer will be a little expensive.

If you are laying a concrete or wood floor, you will need a foundation. It can be ribbon or columnar. Here it is the owner's choice. True, the columnar one rises above ground level from 20 to 25 centimeters. This means that gravel is poured along the upper level of the pedestals and filled with concrete. It is advisable to make a slope towards the door. Small, about 2–3 cm. This will make cleaning the chicken coop easier.

After pouring the foundation, you must wait 5–7 days for the cement to dry. Only after this work continues.

Tools

To build any type of floor in a chicken coop, you will need various tools.

Wooden floor:

• Boards whose thickness is from 20 to 25 cm;
• Wooden beam, section 10 x 10 cm;
• Nails, hammer;
• Wood saw;
• Roulette.

Concrete floor:

• Cement, sand, gravel (crushed stone);
• A trough and a shovel (if you don’t have a concrete mixer). To prepare the solution;
• Boards for formwork;
• Master OK;
• Rules.

Instructions

The most economical and low-cost earthen floor. You can, of course, just compact the soil well in the chicken coop, but it’s better to do it as follows:

1. Mark the area and dig a pit. Depth - two bayonet shovels (about 40 cm). It is important to completely remove plant debris.
2. Leveling the walls and bottom.
3. Prepare a mixture of clay with finely chopped straw in the form of a thick dough.
4. Place on the bottom in a layer of 10–15 cm.
5. Wait until it dries. If cracks appear in the clay, it is necessary to fill it with the same solution.
6. After the clay layer has dried well, the pit is filled to the top with earth and compacted well.

Since the concrete floor is quite cold, it is covered with straw or hay.

Step-by-step instructions for laying a wooden floor:

1. Logs are laid on the foundation, in this case it is better to be columnar.
2. Expanded clay can be poured between them as insulation.
3. Place boards perpendicular to the joists. They should be well adjusted to each other.
4. Nail the boards to the joists.

Before moving replacement young stock into a chicken coop with a wooden floor, it is necessary to treat the boards with a lime solution.

You can make a concrete floor in the usual way, but it is better to use a cheaper, more durable and hygienic one:

1. Pour in crushed stone. It should rise above the soil surface by at least 15 cm.
2. Cover it with a layer of clay and broken glass (protection from rodents).
3. Again fill in a 10 cm layer of crushed stone and fill it with cement mortar.
4. After the screed has dried, cover it with waterproofing in the form of a thin layer of hot liquid bitumen.

Video

In this video we are talking about repairing the floor in the chicken coop and working on mistakes.

conclusions

The productivity and health of the bird depends on the floor in the chicken coop, especially in winter. Therefore, before you start building a room, you need to decide what kind of floor it will have. Currently the following options are used:

1. Concrete floor. Long lasting. Rodents will not enter the room through it. At the same time, it is cold and will need to be further insulated.
2. Wood. Environmentally friendly, warm, easy to install. But if it is bad, mold may appear on it, and in the event of a fire, it will quickly ignite.
3. Earthen floor. The most cost effective. But carriers of infection - rodents - may appear in the chicken coop. In addition, if its surface does not consist of compacted clay, then you will have to very often remove the dirt that arises as a result of mixing the remains of feed, water and soil.

There are only three options. Therefore, the poultry farmer, having weighed his needs and material capabilities, must choose the most acceptable one for himself.

This article will discuss flooring in a chicken coop made from various building materials. Which floor is best suited for such a structure and its characteristic features.

Different types of floors in a chicken coop and their installation

There are many materials for covering the floor surface. When choosing what type of floor is needed in a poultry building, you must take into account its cost. The quality of the coating largely determines the dryness and cleanliness of the chicken area.

The most common material for these purposes is softwood boards. This floor is very warm and comfortable when the owner cleans the room. And it can also be made of concrete and this material is strong and durable.

Sometimes, due to lack of funds by the owner, the floor may be earthen. To do this, the soil in the room is thoroughly leveled with a shovel and compacted. Straw mats or sawdust are laid on top of such a floor. The bird likes the dirt floor quite well because it picks up grains from the ground. The dirt floor allows the chickens to bathe in it and this helps the bird clean its feathers. Do not allow the dirt floor in the chicken coop to freeze, which can lead to the death of the birds.

When laying a concrete floor screed in a poultry room, the ground must first be leveled and thoroughly compacted. Be sure to lay a layer of gravel and lay the mesh on it. Fill the top with a liquid concrete mixture. We carefully compact the concrete mixture, avoiding the formation of voids. The surface of such a floor must be kept for three days, gradually wetting the floor with water. It is advisable to darken the floor screed and constantly moisten it to help prevent cracks.

Wooden panels can be laid on the hardened floor. This panel floor is very convenient to use and clean the room where poultry is kept. Straw, sawdust or grass hay is placed on top of the shields. Thanks to this floor design, the birds in the chicken coop are clean and warm. This design of the panel floor allows it to be disassembled and assembled in a matter of hours. The concrete surface can be washed regularly with water and dried thoroughly.

The advantage of a wooden floor over a concrete floor

The main aspect when choosing a flooring made of wooden planks is its practicality and ease of cleaning this room. Wooden flooring can withstand high humidity or spilled water from a bird bath. Laying such a floor is done with coniferous boards end-to-end without visible gaps. On such a floor covering, it is enough to sweep up all the rubbish with a broom and the room will be perfectly clean. If desired, you can lay a layer of hay or straw on top, this is especially important in winter.

The main advantage of a concrete floor base is its strength, and it can withstand high loads. Almost any material made from sawdust or chopped straw can be laid on such a floor. In this floor, you can install a sewerage outlet into a septic tank for its sedimentation. If cracks appear on the surface of the screed, they can easily be repaired with cement mortar and floated. But such a base can also be covered with floor tiles for utility rooms, and the seams can be sealed with grout.

What criteria are used when choosing a floor for a chicken coop?

The base of the floor surface from the ground has a number of positive aspects. Firstly, this is the ease of performing such work and its low cost. And also naturalness is a coating that is beneficial and affects the health of chickens. An important factor is that such a floor does not rot or collapse. All you have to do is change the bedding of straw or sawdust and the floor is clean. Many people believe that this type of sex has a beneficial effect on the condition of the bird and promotes egg production.

A tiled floor is a good option; the surface does not have to be smooth. These tiles are made for utility rooms and are resistant to abrasion. This material is not afraid of impacts or scratches from various tools. Of course, it is not cheap, but its use will last for quite a long time. Typically, such tiles are placed on a special glue level. After two days you can safely walk on this surface. Such a floor can be washed regularly with a stream of water without fear of its destruction.

Wooden flooring has a number of advantages over other types of coverings. This flooring is most common in bird house construction. This flooring has good heat capacity and retains heat in the room. First, we lay thick beams; this procedure is carried out according to the level. Be sure to lay the beams evenly and not wobble, providing a solid foundation. We lay and nail boards on top of them, preferably larch or pine. We fasten the boards end-to-end without creating gaps, using metal clamps.

To prevent the boards from splitting, drill a hole with an electric drill and drive in nails. The floor surface should not have distortions or protruding nails. If necessary, the floor can be treated with an antiseptic to prevent the destruction of the wood. This composition is applied in three layers with mandatory drying. An antiseptic is needed to protect wood from beetles and various bark beetles. The main danger of such a coating is dampness and wetting of the wood, so it is necessary to ventilate.

You can use clean river sand as the floor in the chicken room. Usually the surface of the earth is pre-prepared. The area is carefully leveled and compacted until a smooth surface is formed. Sand is delivered by truck or tractor using a cart. We sift this sand and dry it until it becomes flowable. Place a layer of sand on the floor surface and compact it thoroughly.

This flooring is very practical and does not require constant cleaning of the room. The bird loves to peck sand because of the shells it contains. The shells contained in river sand are very useful for birds and provide them with all the microelements and vitamins. If the sand floor becomes dirty, simply replace it with a new and clean one. Sand is a material that absorbs water spilled from drinking bowls well. And also the bird kept on such a surface is always clean and healthy.

A high-quality floor in a chicken coop is the key to the health of the birds. The egg production of birds, the quality of eggs and the strength of the shell depend on this. Each floor covering has its own advantages and characteristics. Of course, the ideal and most correct option for making a floor in a chicken coop is made of larch. Flooring on an earthen base is the simplest and most logical. Cleaning poultry feathers with soil prevents the spread of various chicken diseases.

A concrete floor does not require constant cleaning and leveling of its surface. And the use of wooden panels makes it easier for the owner to clean the chicken coop. The concrete base is quite cold and damp, but the use of bedding in the form of wheat straw, cuttings and sawdust. This coating is quite strong and durable and does not require constant cleaning of the floor.

The conclusion can be drawn as follows: the floors and bedding for the chicken coop may be different, but its use is necessary to create a favorable microclimate in the room.

Video Floor in the chicken coop

Video HOW TO MAKE A WARM FLOOR IN A POULTRY HOUSE

Regardless of what kind of chickens you keep (meat or egg breeds), in order to achieve maximum bird productivity, you need to create good conditions for them. There are also certain requirements for what a room for keeping pet birds should be like. In this article we will talk about how to make the floor in a chicken coop to make the birds comfortable and safe.

Conditions for chickens of different breeds will be slightly different.

However, there are basic rules for everyone:

• the poultry house must always be clean;
• The room should have windows that can be easily opened for ventilation. In the absence of such, it is necessary to equip a high-quality ventilation system;
• maintaining the required temperature and air humidity in the chicken coop (depending on the breed of bird). In general, chickens easily live in unheated areas. However, if your goal is maximum productivity, then heating is necessary. The optimal air temperature in the chicken coop is +21-25 degrees. In winter, it should not fall below +10-15;
• Another important condition for a poultry house is space. Overpopulation threatens infections and even epidemics, weakening the immunity of birds. The chicken coop is stocked at the rate of 2-3 laying hens per 1 square meter. m area;
• If chickens lay eggs all year round, then it is necessary to ensure that the length of daylight hours in the poultry house is maintained. If there are windows in the summer, there will be enough light coming through them. In winter, additional light sources are needed. Daylight hours should be 14-16 hours.

Cleaning of the poultry house should be done regularly. The premises should be thoroughly cleaned at least once a year. Once every 2 months - disinfection with special means, chemical or organic (hydrochloric acid with potassium permanganate, crystalline iodine, Monclavit, Bactericide, Virocide, etc.).

For the comfort of chickens, the poultry house must be equipped with:

• , installed at different heights with a distance of 40-50 cm from each other;
• - per 1 adult individual there should be at least 10-15 cm;
• volume 5-6 l;
• nests - 1 piece per 5 individuals;
• ash baths for dry bathing of birds.

The floor should be covered with a bedding of straw, hay, sawdust or other materials. In winter it should be slightly thicker than in summer. If the poultry house is unheated, then its layer should reach at least 30-40 cm. The litter needs to be changed twice a month (if the humidity is high, this can be done more often). Chickens need to roam, so it is important to build an enclosure for them with shade and a canopy from the weather. The walking area also needs feeders and drinking bowls.

Did you know? Chickens can lay eggs only in the light. Even if the time for the egg to come out has already come, the bird will wait for the day to come or the light to turn on.

How do cold and warm floors affect bird health?

The indoor floor helps maintain the desired temperature in the house, regardless of the weather outside. Its quality and the materials from which it is made affect the health and development of birds, and also perform 3 main functions:

• supporting;
• thermal insulation;
• protective.

Living in a chicken coop with a cold floor primarily affects the egg production of birds. When kept in a room with warm flooring, birds are distinguished by a strong immune system and high productivity. They practically do not suffer from arthritis, pneumonia, or colds. When choosing a floor covering, you should give preference to options that are safe, moisture-resistant, durable, with low thermal conductivity, and environmentally friendly.

DIY chicken coop floor

You can arrange the floor in a poultry house in several ways and from various materials. Which option to choose depends on the size of the room, its arrangement and the financial capabilities of the owner. Let's understand the pros and cons of the most common floor coverings - earthen, concrete and wood.

Construction of an earthen floor

An earthen floor is the simplest option available to everyone. Simplicity and low cost are undoubtedly its advantages. However, this option has more disadvantages. Among them:

• rapid cooling during the cold season;
• lack of protection from rodents and pests;
• difficulties in care, because such a floor can often form dirt.

To insulate an earthen floor, it is recommended to make clay flooring.

Step-by-step instructions for performing this coating option are as follows:

1. Remove the plant layer.
2. Level the base.
3. Compact using a tamper.
4. Lay a 10 cm layer of fatty clay.

As additional protection, roofing material can be laid on the clay in 1-2 layers.

Concrete floor installation

Another common option for flooring in a poultry house is concrete pouring. To arrange such a floor also does not require special knowledge and effort. The main advantages of concrete coating are reliable protection against rodents and other pests, as well as durability (service life is about 20 years). It is resistant to moisture, fire and acid.
However, this option is cold and requires mandatory insulation. The bedding for a concrete field can be made from natural (wood shavings, straw, hay, peat, etc.) and synthetic materials. Concreting the floor is carried out as follows:

1. Level the surface.
2. Lay a layer of gravel or crushed stone (2-3 cm).
3. Install limiters around the perimeter.
4. Fill with concrete mortar prepared at the rate of 4 buckets of sand per 1 bucket of cement with the addition of water. The solution should be liquid in consistency.
5. Smooth the surface with a wooden leveler.
6. Leave the floor to harden for a week.

Important!If you lay wooden boards on top of the concrete covering, you will get the best flooring option for a poultry house. It will be reliably protected from rodents and at the same time warm.

Wooden floor installation

Wooden flooring is considered the best option. It is warm and does not require bedding. Its advantages are also environmental friendliness, simplicity and speed of equipment, as well as ease of replacement and the possibility of various insulation options.

However, this flooring also has a number of disadvantages:

• exposure to fungi and other microorganisms that worsen the sanitary condition of the premises;
• flammability;
• Possibility of injury to birds' paws if improperly processed.

Wooden boards can only be installed on the foundation. To arrange a wooden flooring you will need boards 25 cm thick, beams with a section of 100 by 100 mm, nails, cement, saw, hammer, bricks.

The boards are placed at a slight angle for ease of cleaning. Here's what a short instruction on how to install a wooden floor looks like:

1. Lay logs made of beams parallel to the foundation.
2. If desired, lay expanded clay between the joists.
3. Lay the boards perpendicular to the joists so that the joint falls in the middle of the joists.
4. Nail the boards to the joists.
5. Treat the wood with moisture-repellent solutions.
6. Lubricate the floor with lime mortar to protect against pests.

Important! When laying a wooden floor, you must ensure that there are no elements left that could injure birds, such as nails, knots, sharp edges, etc.

How to quickly insulate the floor in a chicken coop

Insulation can be done by laying bedding from various materials. Its height should be from 10 to 30 cm, depending on the time of year. The most popular bedding options are organic materials - straw, sawdust, peat, hay, moss, corn husks. The most common materials for quick and economical floor insulation are sawdust, straw and hay. The most effective are moss and moss peat. Birds' paws feel warm when walking on them. In addition, they perfectly absorb odors and moisture.
Straw retains heat the longest, and sawdust does not cake. It is advisable to use sawdust only in combination with shavings and hay. To combine all these positive properties, mixed litter is made. For example, take 3 parts of shavings, 1 part of sawdust, add peat to them, and pour a layer of straw on top. The floor can also be lined with a bedding made of synthetic materials (fermented compounds) purchased in specialized stores.

Video: how to make a heated floor in a chicken coop

How to care for the coating

Organic litter should be changed at least twice a month. It is completely removed and disposed of, and a new one is put in its place. You can also add new layers on top of the old one. Complete replacement is carried out in the spring. The litter made from fermented compounds is changed once every 2-3 years. The bedding is placed on a clean, well-dried floor.

Did you know? Despite the generally accepted opinion about the small brain of a chicken and its simple structure, an adult is able to remember about 100 faces, recognize the owner in a crowd at a distance of 10 m, navigate in time, and easily learn many commands.

If the floor is earthen, then its upper part, saturated with odors and droppings, is also removed when replacing the bedding. Get rid of the smell by scattering sifted wood ash on the floor (1 bucket per 5-6 sq. m.). The wooden floor is re-coated with a layer of lime when the bedding is changed.
In order for chickens to please their owner with high egg production, tasty meat and good health, he needs to take care of decent conditions for keeping them. You can create comfortable conditions for your birds with your own hands and without much effort. The main thing is to follow the instructions and adhere to all the requirements described above.

Many people, having received their own plot of land far from urban new buildings, enthusiastically begin to build not only greenhouses for their own vegetables, but also premises for breeding domestic chickens. And at first, such owners have a huge number of questions about construction. One of these important questions is what kind of flooring should be in these rooms, and if there are options, which one is better suited to specific conditions.

Features and types

Ideally, the chicken coop should be built taking into account its heating during the cold season. In order for chickens to have good productivity, they need not only complete feed, but also good living conditions. The temperature in the room where they are kept should not fall below +10 degrees. If this temperature norm is not ensured, the bird begins to get sick from hypothermia, stops laying eggs and gaining weight. Pneumonia is one of the most common diseases among chickens, leading to the death of livestock, and in severe frosts their paws often freeze. This, of course, cannot be allowed.

Regardless of what the room is that is designated for keeping poultry, installing a floor in it is the owner’s first priority. The floor in the chicken coop must be equipped even before the planned number of laying hens is placed in it. Its reliability from the penetration of predators, moisture and cold from the outside is a prerequisite for successfully running your own poultry farming.

Most often, the following types of floors are installed in chicken coops:

• earthen, characterized by low costs and large disadvantages;
• concrete, which protects birds well from uninvited predators, but does not retain heat well;
• wooden, the most environmentally friendly, but also, unfortunately, the most fire hazardous.

Of all the listed types, the best flooring material is wood, and the most budget-friendly is soil (dirt floor). Concrete flooring requires material costs not only for the work with concrete itself, but also for those measures that will be aimed at eliminating the main drawback of such floors - the rapid loss of heat in inclement summer and its complete absence in all remaining seasons. But we'll talk about all this a little later.

Choice of coverage

Every owner who decides to have laying hens on his farm is free to choose the flooring in the chicken coop based on his own considerations. But he cannot but take into account the unshakable requirements for floors in such premises, depending on the following factors:

• climatic zone of residence;
• depth of groundwater;
• soil type in the area;
• presence of predators.

For the too harsh climate of the regions of the North and Western Siberia, where winter frosts often reach -40 degrees Celsius, earthen or concrete floors are in no way suitable. On such floors without heating, the bird has no chance of surviving. Therefore, for the owner there are no other options for choosing a floor other than wood or concrete with mandatory heating of the room.

An earthen floor is also not suitable for those areas of residence where there are many predators, loose soil and close groundwater. During the rainy season, an earthen chicken coop in an area close to groundwater runs the risk of being flooded, and this state of affairs may only please waterfowl, to which the chicken has nothing to do. A wooden floor is also not suitable for a chicken coop in damp areas - in high humidity conditions it quickly rots and becomes covered with fungal growths.

The concrete covering protects the poultry house well from rodents and predators. And if a waterproofing layer is laid under the concrete (thick polyethylene film in several layers, roofing felt or roofing felt with bitumen filling), then neither soil moisture nor groundwater will penetrate into such a room. In the southern regions, such a floor is no less good for a poultry house, like a wooden one. But in wet areas it has all the advantages over other coatings.

In dry climate zones, the cheapest flooring option – earthen – is quite suitable. It costs little, but in loose soils it must be strengthened by laying and compacting a clay layer on top. Clay holds moisture well and creates a fairly dense top layer of coating. It is recommended not to install such floors in forest areas where there are a large number of animals that love to hunt both eggs and the birds themselves.

With all other conditions being equal or suitable, when choosing a flooring material for a chicken coop, you must be guided by the following requirements:

• safety (from water, fire, predators, diseases from cold or heat, traumatic factors);
• moisture resistance (does not rot, does not freeze, no fungus);
• strength (does not collapse, does not become limp, inaccessible to predators);
• low thermal conductivity (retains temperature well);
• environmental friendliness (does not harm poultry, does not emit harmful odors).

How to do it yourself?

The installation of the floor should be done after the walls of the poultry house have been erected. And since wooden and concrete floors require a foundation underneath, this circumstance must be taken into account before building a chicken coop. Of course, if the owner’s choice was made in favor of one of the named types of sex. If you plan to use a ready-made room for the chicken coop, then in this case the foundation will need to be built into it. It is possible to use the existing foundation under the room, but this is not always feasible. In addition, it is unknown what loads the old foundation was designed for, and whether it can be a reliable support for the entire building after alterations.

For a wooden floor, the foundation can be of a light type, for example, columnar or strip with shallow pouring. But it is preferable, for economic reasons, to build a columnar foundation for a structure such as a chicken coop. It is done by laying bricks on a solid foundation or by drilling (digging) narrow holes to a depth exceeding the freezing depth of the soil in the area. Dug or drilled holes are used as nests into which scraps of metal pipes with a diameter of about 200 mm can be inserted, and then their internal cavity can be filled with concrete. You will end up with reinforced concrete pillars on which wooden logs are laid around the perimeter and at the intersections of the chicken coop partitions.

If there are no pipes on the farm, then you can arrange a columnar formwork in the shape of a square measuring 200x200 mm in each hole using boards, and then also fill them with concrete. It is important that the foundation pillars are at the same horizontal height and rise 25-30 cm above the ground surface. This applies to both pipes and wooden formwork. If the pillars are made without pipes, then you need to remember to strengthen the concrete casting with metal reinforcement (or simple wire rods with a diameter of 5 or 6 mm). The pillars will provide a fairly strong foundation for subsequent construction, so it is enough to distribute them at a distance of 3 meters from each other along the entire perimeter, taking into account the supports opposite on the sides.

For very small buildings with a planned number of laying hens of up to 15-20, it will be enough to lay pillars of bricks in 3-4 rows (3 bricks in a row). It is advisable to pour a concrete base under each brick pillar with a small depth (10-15 cm) into the ground. Such poles are installed more often - approximately every meter. You can find other recommendations (every 50-60 cm), but this is too often for such a light structure.

• Support beams measuring 200x200 mm are laid parallel to the foundation pillars. A waterproofing material (roofing material, for example) is laid between the surface of the pillars and the beams. It is recommended to maintain a slight slope of the support beams on one side in order to facilitate the subsequent cleaning process of the room.
• Logs, which are bars measuring 100x100 mm, are laid on the support beams perpendicular to them in increments of 50 cm.
• The joists and support beams are fastened together using a hammer and long nails. For reliable fixation, you can use metal corners as fasteners. Adjust the level according to the horizontality of the log.

• Along the bottom of the logs over the entire area of ​​the chicken coop, you can attach a metal mesh, which will serve as the base of the structure. If there is a mesh, the space between the logs can be filled with insulation (mineral wool, for example, or expanded clay). The mesh will hold the insulation if it is additionally tensioned. But this operation can be omitted; it is not mandatory.
• Start laying the boards perpendicular to the joists. The boards must be of the same thickness - at least 25 mm. In addition, they are cut to such a length that the joint is in the center of the joist.
• Nail the boards to the joists at a slightly angle.
• When the floor is completely covered, it needs to be treated against dampness, and a little later - with lime mortar against pests.

For a concrete floor, it is better to make a strip foundation with a pouring depth of 30-40 cm. The height of the ridge above the ground is the same 25-30 cm as with a columnar foundation.

When the concrete has completely hardened, it can be used as a floor.

• Level the soil inside the foundation and compact it.
• Make a small layer of sand (2 cm).
• Cover with a 3-4 cm layer of crushed stone or large pebbles.
• Compact a layer of crushed stone and lay a waterproofing material on top of it (two-layer film, roofing felt, roofing felt) with the edges extending to the foundation.
• Fill the floor area with concrete from a mixture of cement and sand in a ratio of 1:4 with the addition of water until liquid.
• Smooth the pouring surface with a special wooden leveler and leave it for at least 7 days until the concrete has completely set.

The earthen floor is arranged as follows:

• the area is cleared of debris and vegetation and leveled;
• the soil is thoroughly compacted (for this purpose, you can make a homemade device based on a sawn wood block with a handle made of a wooden block nailed to it);
• pour and compact a layer of clay 10 cm thick on top;
• if desired, lay roofing felt in 2 layers or moisture-resistant non-slip linoleum.

How to properly insulate?

To insulate floors in a chicken coop, organic bedding material is often used: straw, hay, sawdust, moss. These litter components are used not only individually, but also in mixed form. For example, sawdust is never used for this purpose in its pure form; wood shavings are a mandatory addition to them. In some frosty cases, peat or moss is added to them, and in addition this mixture is covered with straw.

An excellent material for insulating floors in chicken coops is peat moss. In addition to insulation, it is able to absorb unpleasant odors in the room and has antiseptic properties. Such moss, spread in the chicken coop in winter, saves the chickens' paws from freezing.

The bedding on the floor in the chicken coop sometimes reaches a thickness of 30 cm. Due to organic bedding, the temperature in the poultry housing is kept at 23-25 ​​degrees even on frosty days. In this case, no additional heating is required. The thing is that in such litter, under the influence of poultry droppings, processes of decomposition of organic substances occur, accompanied by an increase in temperature in this layer.

The main thing is to promptly replace the old bedding, which is losing its ability to save heat, with a fresh portion of organic matter, ready to “work” for heating the room. Typically, the litter is replaced with fresh litter once every 2 months. It should be noted that poultry farming experts do not recommend using mineral substances as insulation for poultry houses, for example, mineral wool or wall insulation made from chemical materials that can emit unpleasant odors when heated.

Russian winters are so cold that even chickens stop laying eggs between November and March. To ensure that the chickens do not stop laying eggs and during the winter, it is enough to equip a warm chicken coop.

But as practice shows, this is not a simple question, and problems often arise when choosing heating methods. It is necessary to take into account many factors and conditions, calculate financial costs, and then make a decision on a specific heating method, choosing the optimal one.

The fact is that heating a chicken coop with a heated floor is the most convenient option, since external heating methods that were often used previously - ceiling-mounted open IR heaters - do not cope with the task and consume a lot of energy. The peculiarity of this room is that there are always a lot of feathers and fluff: in addition to polluting the air, they can get into open-type heaters and cause a fire. But using a heated floor in the chicken coop helps eliminate all these shortcomings: feathers, down and other debris do not interact with the heated floor, and therefore there is no risk of fire.

Types of Electric Chicken Coop Floors

Since the air temperature in the room is very important for chickens, the main task of heating is to make them feel comfortable in their house. Installing underfloor heating in your chicken coop has numerous benefits, including:

• the litter that covers the floor in the chicken coop is constantly warmed up, which avoids moisture;
• creates the ability to set the exact temperature in the room;
• young animals are constantly in comfortable conditions without drafts and hypothermia;
• guarantee of electrical safety and moisture protection.

Heating of the chicken coop with a heated floor is carried out using an electric heated floor, which is offered in two types:

• cable;
• film

TOP5 heated floors for chicken coop

Cable heated floor for chicken coop

The biggest disadvantage of cable heated floors is that a concrete screed is required for its installation. That is, such a warm floor resembles a multi-layer cake:

• the first layer of concrete screed makes the floor perfectly flat;
• then a layer of insulation is laid;
• after - reinforced mesh (gives maximum rigidity);
• then - cable, cable mats for electric heated floors;
• a layer of screed (can be replaced with a layer of tile adhesive);
• finishing floor covering.

Such a “sandwich” of a cable heated floor is somewhat irrational, since its arrangement requires a lot of time, a lot of effort is expended, and the height of the room can be significantly reduced by laying a concrete screed.

Optimal heated floor for a chicken coop

The most optimal heated floors in a chicken coop are film floors that do not need to be laid in a screed. To lay a film-type heated floor, it is enough to level the subfloor, which can be achieved by laying boards and a thicker layer of insulation, which will smooth out all existing surface unevenness.

In addition, heating the chicken coop with a film-type heated floor provides numerous advantages:

1. positive effect on the chicken’s body due to the emitted infrared radiation;
2. has high energy efficiency (saves energy several times more than other types of electric floors);
3. ensures uniform heating of the room due to graphic spraying;
4. has the ability to quickly warm up a room and maintain it for a long time;
5. due to the use of a cloudy polymer in the manufacture, thermal deformation of the floor during operation is excluded;
6. the risk of failure due to sparks is eliminated or minimized.

The floor with installed IR film consists of the following layers:

• rough floor;
• insulation;
• film heated floor;
• the floor covering, which in chicken coops is most often made of wood, however, the covering can also be made of any other material, eventually sprinkled with sawdust.

To regulate the temperature in the room, it is necessary to install a thermostat, with the help of which a comfortable temperature will be constantly maintained in the chicken coop. You can select a thermostat suitable for the selected “warm floor” system in the chicken coop in the “” section.

If you don’t know how to solve the issue of creating the optimal temperature in a chicken coop, contact our company’s managers for a free consultation: highly qualified specialists are ready to solve even the most complex problems of installing any type of heated floor.

By contacting our managers, you can always get answers to all questions regarding the installation of heated floors in any, even the most non-standard room.