Solution for damp coop?

[Jonessa]

Hi all!
Last spring we moved from the dry interior of BC to Vancouver Island, a very different climate - mild year round, wet rainy winters. We brought along our 7 chickens (which makes all non-chicken keepers laugh hysterically ) and left behind our beautiful coop built by my husband.

We are currently renting and shopping for a home of our own. We were able to get a free 8x10 plastic garden shed and converted it into a great little coop that will be relatively easy to disassemble when it is time for us to move again. Now the rainy season has begun, and I am having an issue that I never had to deal with in our old home, where we got lots of snow and -20C temps - the coop is constantly damp! Thankfully it doesn't often freeze here, just a few frosty morning so far that melted off by midday, but I do worry about the girls being damp all the time. Am I worried for nothing?

We cut windows in the walls, for a total of 25 sqft of windows, which are always open - one of the windows and the pop door are beneath the run roof, and the other two windows have shutters that are tipped downward slightly, so there isn't any noticeable water coming in through the windows. The floor is raised a foot off the ground, resting on pallets, and is made of two layers of interlocking hard plastic squares - yet somehow water seeps up between the cracks, and makes the bedding damp. When the weather is very rainy, the inside walls and ceiling are covered in condensation, which build up and drips. I clean the poop board daily, and even scoop the obvious poops out of the shavings; their water is outside in the run. And then there's the run! The dirt floor, which is covered in dried leaves and old shavings from inside the coop, is always damp as well - it seems the ground here is just saturated at this time of year.

I would love some advice as to any modifications I can make or what else I can do, aside from frequently changing out the damp shavings for new dry shavings. Please keep in mind that the coop needs to remain easy to dismantle, as it is a temporary structure. Thanks in advance!

 

[ValerieJ]

I honestly think you will have to change the coop. I had a plastic deck box holding my chicken supplies for a while and I could not keep the dampness out. I'm in a Washington rain forest, so it is soggy here a lot of the time. I find wood coops with plenty of ventilation stay dry. Also I have no windows or openings on the side the weather comes from. I don't know why plastic does that, and I can't figure out why they would even sell plastic deck boxes for this climate. It wasn't a cheap one.

If you build a coop by building each side first and then assembling it, you should be able to disassemble it fairly quickly. The roof would possibly be the biggest challenge. My husband built a coop that is fairly modular and quite weather proof, but it is not a walk in. It is 4x8 with 8 external nest boxes, and worked very well for my flock of 6 at the time he built it. We have 12 now and 3 more coops, but that's a long story.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It's a nice looking set up. Is there any ventilation up higher, like towards the peaks of the roof?

So weird that you'd have an issue with moisture welling up from under the coop when it's elevated. Sounds like there is a drainage issue overall in that spot, which you may or may not be able to fix since you don't own the home. THe condensation could be from a combo of the water wicking up through the floor and the higher humidity from rain causing moisture to stick to walls and ceiling.

For the run you could try adding more litter (such as untreated mulch or aged wood chips) to build up the layer enough so that the surface layer stands a chance at drying out.

 

[aart]

- yet somehow water seeps up between the cracks, and makes the bedding damp.

Are you sure it's coming up from underneath, or maybe seeping thru the wall joints during hard rains?

When the weather is very rainy, the inside walls and ceiling are covered in condensation, which build up and drips.

Sure sign of lack of ventilation.....tho your climate conditions are rife for high humidity. Have you measured the humidity in the coop and outside the coop?
Hard to make it drier inside that it is outside.
Another window under the run roof might help.

Curious, where did you get PDZ in Canada?

 

[CatWhisperer]

If you have electricity to your coop you could run a dehumidifier until a better solution comes along.

 

[Jonessa]

I honestly think you will have to change the coop. I had a plastic deck box holding my chicken supplies for a while and I could not keep the dampness out. I'm in a Washington rain forest, so it is soggy here a lot of the time. I find wood coops with plenty of ventilation stay dry. Also I have no windows or openings on the side the weather comes from. I don't know why plastic does that, and I can't figure out why they would even sell plastic deck boxes for this climate. It wasn't a cheap one.

If you build a coop by building each side first and then assembling it, you should be able to disassemble it fairly quickly. The roof would possibly be the biggest challenge. My husband built a coop that is fairly modular and quite weather proof, but it is not a walk in. It is 4x8 with 8 external nest boxes, and worked very well for my flock of 6 at the time he built it. We have 12 now and 3 more coops, but that's a long story.

You have voiced my suspicions! I had a feeling it was in large part due to the coop being made of plastic. Not ideal - but, hey, it was free! I definitely plan to build a wood coop when we have our own place, but right now it's not really practical - we are actively house shopping so could be moving any time, and (like you, I'm sure!) it's raining nearly everyday and we have no shop, so we'd be building outside in the wet.

 

[Jonessa]

It's a nice looking set up. Is there any ventilation up higher, like towards the peaks of the roof?

So weird that you'd have an issue with moisture welling up from under the coop when it's elevated. Sounds like there is a drainage issue overall in that spot, which you may or may not be able to fix since you don't own the home. THe condensation could be from a combo of the water wicking up through the floor and the higher humidity from rain causing moisture to stick to walls and ceiling.

For the run you could try adding more litter (such as untreated mulch or aged wood chips) to build up the layer enough so that the surface layer stands a chance at drying out.

No ventilation higher up - on one side, there isn't really room to put anything above the door and still maintain the structural integrity of the plastic panels there, and the other side I didn't bother because it seems to be the direction that the rain blows from. But I do have another set of shutters, so maybe I should do that.
I think aart could be right in his suggestion that the floor seepage is actually coming from the walls. The coop is sited at the top of a hill, and I haven't noticed any puddling anywhere around it. I think it's just super humid!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Are you sure it's coming up from underneath, or maybe seeping thru the wall joints during hard rains?

Sure sign of lack of ventilation.....tho your climate conditions are rife for high humidity. Have you measured the humidity in the coop and outside the coop?
Hard to make it drier inside that it is outside.
Another window under the run roof might help.

Curious, where did you get PDZ in Canada?

Spot on advice.
You can keep the building as a coop but you'll have to cut some big windows in it and install some awnings. It will still disassemble and reassemble.
It is usually very humid here. It is 80% here right now with the snow melt going on. Maybe not as humid as Vancouver but still, any building I have without huge ventilation requires much more frequent change of bedding. The ventilation needs to be big enough that it is nearly the same humidity inside as out.

 

[ValerieJ]

You have voiced my suspicions! I had a feeling it was in large part due to the coop being made of plastic. Not ideal - but, hey, it was free! I definitely plan to build a wood coop when we have our own place, but right now it's not really practical - we are actively house shopping so could be moving any time, and (like you, I'm sure!) it's raining nearly everyday and we have no shop, so we'd be building outside in the wet.

Well, you do need to find a solution using the plastic coop for now. The chickens can take the cold with no problem, but not the wet. More ventilation would help. Do you have electricity at the coop, or a way to get it there? The dehumidifier idea might work. Before we ran electricity out to our coops I actually used two 100' outdoor extension cords, so that's an option. But the connectors have to be well protected, and there are products available just for that.

 

[Jonessa]

Are you sure it's coming up from underneath, or maybe seeping thru the wall joints during hard rains?

Sure sign of lack of ventilation.....tho your climate conditions are rife for high humidity. Have you measured the humidity in the coop and outside the coop?
Hard to make it drier inside that it is outside.
Another window under the run roof might help.

Curious, where did you get PDZ in Canada?

It could definitely be seeping through the walls at the base, it does seem wetter there. I thought maybe the water was seeping up from below because I often see it at the cracks between the floor panels, but maybe those are just the last spots to dry out.
I can try adding another window beneath the run roof, and maybe another higher up near the peak with a shutter, but like you said, it's hard to make it drier inside than it is outside, and it is VERY wet outside. I didn't have nay issues during the drier summer weather, it's only been since the winter rains started. I'll try measuring the humidity inside and out, that would be interesting to know.
Ahh, the PDZ... I lucked out last year and was able to get some from the feed store in Kamloops. They had brought in one pallet that they got from another supplier that closed out, just a one time thing, so I bought several bags. I only have one bag left, and haven't figured out what I'll due once that's gone! I tried Stall Dry before I got the PDZ, but didn't like it, too dusty and I was worried about the diatomaceous earth content.