Bottom of pine shavings wet and moldy. Why?

[Underwhere]

I'm having an issue with my coop and am wondering if you guys can help reason why.

When I clean out my pine shavings which I pile about 6 inches high, the bottom 3-4 inches are completely soaked. It's even in the hard to reach places where the chickens don't get to. When the girls dig up the pine shavings they can get to the soaked shavings and it concerns me because one time I found the portion under the steps was moldy.

I'm trying to figure out why this is happening. Is water getting in? (I used silicone everywhere to hopefully make it water tight).

My coop is a little tykes cozy cottage converted to red barn. I've done extensive work on it.

When I built it I did the following:
1. Used a treated wood floor for the bottom of the coop.
2. Put adhesive tile on the wood floor to make cleanup easier
3. Screwed the wood floor to the bottom of the coop
4. Siliconed the bottom of the coop to the wood floor to make it water tight.

 

[mljohnson05]

Not sure why that is happening, never seen that problem.You might have a leak you do not know about, or the house may be collecting condensation?
Either way..with mold you must clean it our ASAP...remove everything and throw out. Was with a diluted bleach, then with warm soapy water..allow to dry completely.
you can also take a hose and spray it from every angel once you have removed the shavings, and watch to see if you find a leak!!!
next USE SAND !!!!!!
You will never go back once you do...It drains well, and wicks the moisture away from the chickens. then all you have to do is take a kitty scooper to remove the Big clumps and you are done in 2 min flat !

 

[Underwhere]

Quote:
The interesting thing is that the pine shavings are wet everywhere, not just in one place. Literally a uniform 3-4 inches across the entire coop.
I considered maybe a leak, but there isn't a single place that is more wet than another.

Sand would be interesting. I'll have to consider that. Any particular type?

 

[mljohnson05]

i use play sand, and get it by the scoop full...it is cheaper.
However you can use any sand you want...not only does it clean fast and easy, but it acts like GRIT for the chickens too

how many chickens are in there?
do you keep water in there?
it could be that they are going so much, and there is not enough ventilation to keep it dry....may have to fluff it more often

 

[Underwhere]

Quote:
There are 4 birds in there. Used to be 5 but we lost one in the winter.
It's pretty dusty in there. Not sure if that's an indicator that things are dry or not.

I'll look into sand. May be better than having to keep removing all this pine shaving junk.

 

[Underwhere]

Quote:
Is sand cold in the winter?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Is the bottom of the coop sitting flat on the ground or is it raised above the ground?

 

[5Leepy!]

I'm no expert on construction or chix but aren't you supposed to use a water barrier between the ground and a floor? Like... When you're building a house...

That'd be my guess of what the problem is. BTW, sweet coop. I love it.

 

[jinxschuh]

Quote:
I second Bear Foot's question... the coop looks to close to the ground since there isn't a foundation I would think it would need to be higher off the ground. Maybe you can get some bricks or cinder blocks and get it up higher to see if that helps. Other wise I'd think you'd want to recheck all your seals and make sure you don't have some where that is leaking enough water to fill the entire bottom, explaining why it is the whole floor area and not just say under a window seal or something.

Very cute idea though, to use a childs play house, I like it!! Great concept! I've been looking at buying childeren's gazebo sandboxes for my chickens, but desided to build one out of scraps I have instead, much cheaper for me that way.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

im sorry, but can i please say AWESOME COOP!