Finishing the interior of a coop?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Duncan Martin on March 22, 2011 at 11:22pm

Hi Kristi,

I really wouldn't worry about finishing the walls - there's not much a chicken can do to a vertical surface and I don't think moisture from the air will take much toll.  For the floor, you can put down linoleum, vinyl, plywood, burlap - anything that you can just pull out occasionally and scrape into the compost and hose off.  Give the birds plenty of bedding though, so they feel comfortable and don't slip on a plastic surface.  The key is to provide them with enough perch space (1-2 inch diameter branches or dowels) so that whenever they decide to retreat to the coop to sleep, they can go straight up to a perch, which is their natural protective instinct.  The floor is mainly a manure collector.  Remember this when planning perch placement.

Enjoy your fresh eggs,

Duncan

 

Permalink Reply by leanne gypsy on March 23, 2011 at 7:37am

We've been thinking about this too....

Some kind of natural oils?  Or metal flashing around the bottom making it easy to clean?

I guess if you have enough straw down it should be pretty easy to maintain.

Leanne

(do you want me to bring some Kefir starter to yoga next week?)

Permalink Reply by Kristi Tatebe on March 23, 2011 at 2:26pm

Thanks for the advice Duncan!  Good idea on the metal flashing Leanne - I'll see what I can scrounge up - I'm thinking vinyl flooring might be easier to come by, although I don't love the idea of pvc......

 

Duncan, how do you finish exterior wood?  I know most of your coops are cedar which is great.  I've got a base (everything in contact with the ground) of cedar, but the rest is pine.  I painted the exterior surfaces of the run, but wonder about water protection inside the run (the wood is still subject to rain even though it isn't on the ground).

 

I heard it wasn't great to just totally paint exterior wood as if water got under the paint it would blister & peel.

 

Thoughts?

 

Leanne - I can't eat the kefir unfortunately, but Ben might like it!  I asked him and it was actually a Caspian Sea yogurt culture he was looking for, but I bet he'd like kefir too.  Just if you remember on Monday!  :-)  Though I have to admit that with two new cats & the coop, I hope one of us will have time to take care of a starter too!  :-D

Permalink Reply by Duncan Martin on March 23, 2011 at 11:07pm

There are a lot of good protective stains out there if you have exposed wood and want to avoid paint peeling.  It may be a matter of a new coat every few years.  I sell my coops as unfinished cedar, so I can't recommend any eco-certified brands off the top of my head, but you'll find them if take a walk down the stain aisle at Home Depot or Home Hardware.  The Habitat for Humanity ReStore also has a lot of stain available.  You can't be too picky there, but I like the idea of using up leftover paint and stain instead of it going to the landfill.