Flooring options for colony

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dragonjaze

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Planning stages now, so nothing is set in stone.

Would large concrete patio pavers on a bed of crushed gravel or sand be a good base for an indoor colony set up? Would provide straw/sawdust/woodchips on top, plus access to outdoor run.

Would love to just have a dirt floor, but I'm worried about the digging aspect. Have thought about laying down wire fencing on top of the dirt, but then I'm worrying about being able to rake/shovel bedding out without getting caught on the wire.

Large shed with open (screened) front will be the housing situation. Would pour a concrete slab, but that is likely to be out of my budget and/or abilities, but it is an option. I just thought that concrete pavers would be a bit easier for a DIY'er to manage, plus be portable if the need arose.

What say the colony experts?
 
I'm debating putting down cheap linoleum. I don't think they could dig through it and it would be a whole hell of a lot cheaper than any brick or concrete item. The corners would just have to be protected but a row of bricks around the outside would solve that. The wire on the floor works but it does cause problems. We had a doe injured I think by some wire that got upturned, they've gotten it loose in several places, and it is hard to clean.
 
I think the pavers would work if you got the bigger ones, not the small brick-sized ones. I actually think the pavers would drain better than a slab, which would be an advantage. I have used broken cement crazy patched back together--Huge PITA to install (unless you like puzzles), but cheap (free) if your budget is tight. Just make sure whatever sized chunks you put down are bigger than/heavier than the rabbits, and fitted closely together over packed gravel.
 
I friend recently suggested to me-- Concrete board-- the type used behind bathroom walls and wood burning stoves She was given a few sheets that she is currently using under some dog kennels If you prepare the supporting surface nicely-- they probably will not crack, and are very wettable!!!
 
I actually try to avoid anything that will absorb or drain. After growing up with dirt floored stalls I know the horrors that come from urine collection. Concrete and drainable materials will hold urine and grow bacteria unless you disinfect. We laid out a stall skin for our foaling stall and before every foal mixed up a bleach solution to pour across the stall skin. It's a semipermeable fabric membrane they often use under roads and other heavy situation which you install over sand with drainage ditches carved in to the stall floor. I love my stall with the stall skin and horses can't paw through it but rabbits could probably tear it up. However it still requires a lot of maintenance. For the other stalls we came across someone selling these extremely heavy duty rubber mats for cheap and went a different route. It takes 3 people to move one and it takes 4 to do a 12x12 stall so they aren't going anywhere. The stalls with rubber mats are wonderful. Rather than having to worry about drainage I can just remove it all. It cleans and disinfects soooo much easier. The steadily increasing urine and musty smells of the old dirt and crushed limestone floored stable are gone. I shovel the bedding off, sweep it, and then run over it with a mop. Completely disinfected. Bedding exists to absorb urine so you can remove it and it doesn't go in to the floor. The more you can do to prevent it absorbing in to the floor the less work you have to do to clean and neutralize ammonia from urine and the longer things can go without needing disinfected and given a break.
 
I use coregated (sp?) plastic for the floor of my chicken coop. It cleans so well and is cheap! I love it! $10 for 4ft x 8ft sheets
 
I've decided if I ever get to do a colony really proper the way I really want to, it will have a concrete slab with good drainage capabilities, either installed drains, or sloped for run-off if it's a smaller area.

That said, I think large-ish pavers would be a reasonable substitute. It seems like if you install them well so they don't get all uneven that they would work out really quite nicely, perhaps even better than concrete. And the great thing about rabbits is that after they establish their "potty corners" you can always pop in some kind of litter box and empty that frequently to even better control the urine issue.
 
On second thought... After years of stall cleaning I agree with Akane, the flat out best flooring would be those rubber stall mats. They are indestructible, fit uneven floors, and are fully cleanable. It would rock. But they are spendy.

The main problem with pavers is all the edges sticking up just high enough to catch a rake or a shovel. I think cheap vinyl flooring would work better if it was lapped a foot up onto the wall and tacked down (to the wall) with large headed roofing nails. That is what we did in the chicken coop over a plywood floor. You could do it over packed gravel too.
 
The cost of stall mats is why I was going to try linoleum. Too weak for horses but unless the rabbits can get the edge I don't think they can destroy it.
 
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