It's wet and I can't take it anymore!!

I'm having the same problem as you, but I don't want to clean it up right now so I am waiting to see if it will dry up. I tried putting sand down but they just kicked it all out so no luck there. Good Luck to you though!

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Thank you.




So, it was a toss up between the sand and the concrete but my hubby and dad just picked up a load of sand, so I guess that is what we are going with. I hope it works. I have a pullet right now that is suffering from some kind of respiratory problem or pneumonia. I think it is from the shavings and dirt staying so wet and damp all the time. We are treating her with antibiotics and keeping her as dry as possible, but I am afraid it may not get any better. I also have 5 turkeys that could be called ducks because of so much water in their kennel. We have had such a very wet couple of weeks. Hopefully we will have happy and healthier chickens and turleys after this weekend.

Thanks to all for the suggestions and replies!! I really appreciate it.

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Just wondering... since my dad has been helping me with coop construction - is he difficult too? EVERYTHING with my coop/run has been an argument and I seem to have lost 85% of them

Don't get me wrong I love my dad and appreciate everything he does for my husband and I, but when we started the chicken project I felt that we could not tell him anything and it was getting very aggravating. But when we started I really did not know anything about chickens, so I took his word. Each week we have had to make a few changes here and there to accomodate the chickens and their coop. As time went on and he saw that I was going alot of online research, as well as, speaking to alot of local poultry and livestock owners and actually knew what I was talking about, he actually backed off a little bit and listened to what I was saying and changed some things I wanted to change. I just feel that he is from a time when there were no vitamins, antibiotics, wormers, etc. for chickens or livestock. Just feed them some scratch and let em go kinda thing. They didn't have BYC or the internet for research either.
I am sorry for your losses. I have only lost 1, just recently, out of 23. But I have sick one now that I think is sick because of the coop staying wet all of the time. So I told my dad about the recent replies of this post and I guess that kind of pushed him along because I have sand at home right now. Or it was me telling him last night to get rid of every chicken until we give them a better place to live.
Either way, we have taught each other alot about chickens and in the end we enjoy them. We plan to add on to our existing chicken yard and coop next year, but this time he has said he wants to use alot of my ideas. I guess I finally got through to him. Just keep trying to be patient with your Dad and hopefully he will start trusting your opinions more. Good Luck!

Oh no! I lost 85% of the fights, not the chickens Sorry about that.

I am in the same boat as you. My dad is great and helps my husband and I with a ton of stuff...
...but I am so often aggravated with this whole project I just want to cry.

All I can do is bang my head against the wall

So, although I am sad I can share in your pain, I am glad I am not the only one.

We have a coop built around a curved frame armature (former greenhouse) that is 8' by 8'. We covered the back section with roofing and then attached a small rabbit hutch and a chick'n'barn for our 5 hens and 3 doves.

On our open coop, I put in a layer of chicken wire attached to the frame to keep out digging animals. I covered that with 2" of sand. I rake it around once a week, but the hens eat any greenery that comes up.

It has been WET WET WET here (even inside the enclosed henhouse). But the sand has been fine, with nothing worse than muddy feet.

Inside the henhouse, I used patio bricks to keep out digging animals and covered it with around 6" of pine shavings. When it's really, really wet, dampness seeps up through the patio blocks, but never up the top of the shavings, just on the bottom. The hens seem very happy with it.

OUTSIDE the coop on my lawn it is mucky. Inside is fine. The sand raised it up above the surrounding ground.

This shows the coop with the rabbit hutch but before we added the henhouse. You can see how muddy the yard is, but the chickens seem fine (to me) in the run. It's actually better now.

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lol. Glad you didn't lose your chickens. Hang in there girl, I feel your pain!!

We live in South Louisiana too and with all this recent rain... OMG I feel your pain! Just YESTERDAY we put a floor in our coop for the same reason! We studded and put a floor of OSB 4x8 plywood about 2 inches off the ground and then threw in our fresh wood shavings on the new dry floor area! Our coop is 8 x 12.

I think our next step is going to be a mixture of pea gravel and sand in the now getting sloppy run! The run is 25 x 50 so I am going to do it in stages I guess because of cost.

Good Luck!