Going from wire-floor coop to dirt-floor pen?

[Randall]

I've got 48 BWs that are about 6 months old in a 3' x 9' coop with a wire floor.  Yes, they've outgrown this coop, and the cannibalism is getting worse.  Several are loosing head/neck feathers and tail feathers.  This coop in about 4' off the ground under a big shed with open sides, and actually inside of a 10' x 20' dog pen that had regular 2" x 4" dog pen wire around it.  I like the wire floor coop because of droppings falling through.  Just wondering how wise it would be to cover the entire pen (including the top) with 1" poultry wire, and turning them out inside this dirt floor pen?  The floor stays dry, and has some sand in it already, and have access to much more to put in there.  Would this be a wise thing to do? 

The main thing I'm wondering about is.......how would you maintain a dirt/sand floor like that (that never gets rained on)?  I know they gotta poop, but what's the right thing to do for the floor IF this is a logical thing to do?    Or, would wood shavings be better than sand......or maybe both?

[Randall]

  ....................... No opinions / suggestions?

[lamike]

I have mason sand in my aviary
So far it has been great
I rake the ground at least once a week and remove all i can
You can read a few backposts on this in health issues

[Little Bear Game Farm]

What most people on here will probably tell you is to stick with the wire floor, the health of the birds can be quite dependent on it.  I raised 500 chukar on the ground this year and was told I would probably have 2 or at most 3 year window raising birds on virgin ground, after that it was a guarantee that I would have disease problems.  This upcoming season I hope to build a wire floor pen so I don't have to worry about the disease problems.  If you already have a wire floor pen and are getting overcrowded, I would try to expand the existing pen.

[Randall]

Thank y'all for your opinions.  My gut feeling was to NOT put them on the ground, even though it was going to be simpler.  OK.....I'm trying to talk myself into building a much larger coop, but one other question - Would you use regular 1" poulty/chicken wire for the sides on a coop?  I have plenty of this, and was wondering if it would suffice for grown birds. I know 1/2" mesh is what I'll use on the bottom, but was wondering if the chicken wire would be a no-no for the sides?

[lamike]

thats all i have on my pens

[Little Bear Game Farm]

That should work good but I do put soffit panels or something solid along the bottom 12" or so.  The birds wil stick their heads out and you could have problems.  My breeder pens were 2' off the ground and I lost some birds.

[Randall]

thats all i have on my pens

Do you have Bobwhites,and if so, is it a problem with them getting their heads wedged in the holes and wearing the feathers off the neck and stuff like that?  I was wondering about that and then I saw Little Bear's post and was thinking that would be the main drawback.  I 've got a few Wisconsin Jumbos, and their heads look like the right size to cause a good wedgie in those chicken wire holes. 

[lamike]

i keep my bobwhites in my aviary which has 1/2 inch hardware wire 4' high to stop themselves and critters from messing them up
i have Georgia giants also

[Randall]

Thanks for the input.  Fixing to start a 5' x 13' coop off the ground like my 3' x 9'.  Sure wish I could post pics on here, but it says they're too big when I choose one browsing off my picture folders..............and can't figure out how to download a link to a sub-picture album from Photobucket

[lamike]

try this
when you pull up your pics resize them before you try to attach them
im going to post my brooders breeder and some of my grow out pens
pics of my aviary are already posted