Ahh coop floor is flooding

[Littlecimarron18]

my coop has 2 rooms, each are 8 1/2 bt 15, the second room is now flooding!
my nestboxes and roosts are in the other room but some of the chickens like to be in the other room,
since all the snow is melting there is ALOT of water on the floor,
is it alright for my chickens?
should i move more dirt into it?

 

[TheMartianChick]

Is there a way that you can "sweep" the water out of the coop with a push broom? I would think that the water would not be good for the chickens and that it would encourage the growth of mold and mildew. I would definitely keep the chickens away from the water.

You mentioned adding dirt to the floor... Does the coop have a dirt floor to begin with? Where is the water coming from? Is it the roof or is it coming through the floor?

 

[patandchickens]

1) DO NOT put dirt in there, you will just get deeper mud and it will take longer to dry out after the flooding is over. If you need to let your chickens into that room, either

-put down pallets (you can stack multiple layers if necessary, and you can usually get pallets for free, if you don't know offhand where to get them locally call around to stores and explain your problem and someone will knw where to point you), top with opened-flat cardboard boxes and a little bedding if the slats are dangerously far apart, or

-dump in a whole lot of wood chips, not shavings, you want relatively coarse chips like come out of a chipper a tree company would use.

Once the actual flooding is over, remove whatever you put in there, and if possible open all ventilation orifices and stick a fan in there, otherwise things can get moldy and wood can start rotting.

2) The biggest priority is to divert the water, because that is the only way to keep the flooding from getting worse and from recurring til we hit the drier part of springtime. You need to intercept as much as possible before it gets to your coop, and also provide a way for the remainder to drain away from your coop.

Ditches are often the best quick solution... yes, even if your ground is frozen you CAN scrape at least shallow channels into the ground, sharpen your pointed shovel with a file and use it with a lot of English behind it, going at a sharp or flat angle to the ground. If roof runoff is adding to the problem, quick tack some eavestroughs on, and use whatever you can (a length of black corrugated nonperforated drainage pipe works well) to lead the downspout runoff well away downhill.

(edited to add afterthought: occasionally, depending on the construction of your building and the way in which it's flooding, it can be worthwhile cramming rags into the space under a door or other crevices where water's getting in. You have to ram them in there firmly and tightly. They won't seal out all water but may reduce inflow enough that you end up with less total flooding before the water starts to go down on its own. If you happen to be in one of the infrquent situations where this may help, it is worth trying)

Good luck,

Pat, living in basically a swamp and no stranger to emergency flooding of outbuildings