HELP! chicken coop now a swamp due to rain!

[CharlieScherrer]

A huge downpour of rain recently means that my (usually dry) chicken area in my garden is swamped! I am not sure what to do!? They seem happy enough but I am scared of them having constant wet feet and becoming more cold because of it, which also might make them more prone to mites etc!? I have put a large wooden pallet on the floor and created a new dry area for them to stand on (and of course they have their usual totally waterproof nesting box and stone bench they like to stand on) but is this all I need to do? Can I do more? I thought about putting straw down but I’d literally need to buy a bale of hay! Any suggestions hugely welcome – sorry I’ve only kept chickens for 6 months so a bit of a newbie to it all.

I also had a recent outbreak of red mites in their Coop – deep cleaning it twice (as they kept coming back) got rid of the majority but my girls started refusing to go into their Coop at night (they would rather sleep outside so I had to physically pick them up to put them away) so they are telling me they don’t want to sleep in there. The red mites have gone – I keep checking daily for movement….but it’s like its put my chickens off going in the house. Also my husband thinks I should chuck their Coop (it cost £110!) because it’s a wood and plastic design and he’s convinced (after my crazy thorough cleans and the mites STILL coming back after) that they are living in the corrugated plastic sealed units. Any help on this would be appreciated too!

 

[Sutremaine]

Have you got a picture of the coop, and these sealed units? Red mites are rather small, and it'll take a tight seal to keep them out. You can go into the coop late at night and examine the birds for living red mites.

Can you cover the chicken's area? How large is it? If it's a swamp now, it'll be pretty gross come winter.

 

[TalkALittle]

Red Mites are difficult to get rid of once you have them. If your coop has corrugated components then it is very probable that there are mites surviving in those crevices.

From the sounds of it, you have an inexpensive pre-fab coop. What are the dimensions of the interior sleeping space? How many birds do you have--still just the 4 you posted about in your intro?

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! For the flooding; if it's in a low spot, can it be relocated to a better site? Fixing drainage issues might not be possible in one or two days (during the rain!) but needs to happen. How about digging a ditch around the run to help with drainage? Adding gravel or something to raise the base? French drains?
For now, adding shavings, wood chips, straw, or something to get them up out of the water, and consider if roofing the run would be possible. Mary