Flooring... yes or no?

[TheBirdBabe]

Hey y'all!

My husband just built me a new goose coop! I'm excited to move them in, but I need some guidance on what to use as a "floor". We don't have one in there due to these birds being absolutely disgusting. I think it would be more of a headache for me to try to clean WITH a floor as opposed to having one WITHOUT.

I thought of using lava rock & then a thick layer of straw. Opinions?

Thanks! ️

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I like DEEP LITTER. No floor.

 

[21hens-incharge]

For geese I also vote deep litter and no floor.

 

[Happy hen lover]

Deep litter X3.

 

[Callender Girl]

My geese live in a small shelter that doesn't have a floor, but it does have hardware cloth underneath to deter predators and vermin.

Originally, I lined the bottom of the goose house with straw. But, my goats are particularly picky eaters for their species and often leave a good deal of their pricey hay uneaten. I now take "leftovers" from their feeder and use the remains to make a layer of "litter" for the geese.

When Gussie and Golly's shelter gets too mucky, I shovel out the nasty hay, pile it beside the goose house, and the chickens have a field day "sorting" through it, helping it decompose much more quickly. Then, off it goes to the compost pile, already partially processed.

 

[TheBirdBabe]

Thank you for all the advice!

This was originally the plan.. but as soon as I started seeing it come together, I got nervous. All my other coops have floors & I've never done the deep litter method before.. but there's always something new to learn!

 

[Jenbirdee]

me personally, i rather have a floor. for me it’s not that hard to clean up because i only have 2 geese . twice a week take out the old , sprinkle sweet pdc, and add new bedding. i don’t think geese are disgusting, compared to other birds, geese are easy to clean up after. personally i find chicken poop to be much stinkier and nasty than duck or geese.

 

[TheBirdBabe]

me personally, i rather have a floor. for me it’s not that hard to clean up because i only have 2 geese . twice a week take out the old , sprinkle sweet pdc, and add new bedding.

Oh man, I have 2 geese & 5 ducks in this coop. Cleaning twice a week would probably tack on an extra hour when I was doing chores!

 

[Jenbirdee]

Oh man, I have 2 geese & 5 ducks in this coop. Cleaning twice a week would probably tack on an extra hour when I was doing chores!

lol i used to clean every day. in the summer when flies are bad I still go in there and scoop out every poop and every wet spot every single day. For 13 ducks, and two chickens .. but the geese are separate and easier to clean up after in my opinion.

 

[Goosebaby]

A cement floor can make it more sanitary if you have illness pop up in the flock, just clean out the bedding, spray some bleach and hose it out later. Cement is hard on their feet and bodies and very cold so deep litter on top of it is important. You won’t get as much beneficial bacteria coming up through the soil but you won’t get much negative bacteria either.

Definitely some pros and cons to it.