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I'm going to buy supplies for the coop probably tonight, and I need to decide on a flooring.
Going with the 'more air is better' idea, I was thinking of making at least most (and under the roosts) of the floor hardware cloth. It would allow massive air circulation during the summer, drying out all manure (preventing nasties from building up and keeping the area smelling good with zero cost for bedding), and in winter I can slide in some plywood and use regular wood shavings for bedding.
Thoughts?
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ETA: I will leave my thoughts here, but now I see you've probably already made your purchases. I'm very interested in what you do. New methods are good education.
Anyway, here's what I said:
I like the deep litter system, and it never smells for me, the chickens keep it stirred by me just tossing in a handful of scratch, which they scramble to get, thus stirring the litter.
BUT....you're doing this open air thing and I'm not familiar with that. In my experience poop does not fall through hardware cloth very easily and it is hard to clean, requiring scraping and a high-pressure hose a couple of times a year. It also builds up on the framing members under the hardware cloth. It's why I went to the treated plywood with deep litter when we built our latest henhouse. I can just rake all of it out the door easily. (It never gets packed as long as I remember to toss the scratch under the roosts.)
So I'm not much help with that.
Where are you planning to put the pit for the DE/sand?
Seems like a PARTIAL hardware cloth floor in the center, with solid under the perches (if they were run short ways though--wouldn't work if they're long ways) and a solid spot for the sandbox would work. Airflow plus easier cleaning.
Now then.....your experience wtih the hardware cloth may not be same as mine. Your system is different.