Can't keep my coop dry! Advice needed please.

[Maryanne]

I have a coop that came with the house that I live in.
I don't really have the resources to build a new one at this time.

Right now I have 4 six week old hens living in the coop. I also have four more 5 day old chicks in a brooder that will live in the coop eventually.


The problem is that the coop is on an angle. The ground is slanted. It is built onto a concrete slab which is at an angle. There is a big privacy fence that is the wall at the upper end of the slant. On the other side of that fence are my flower beds. When it rains alot (which it has been for weeks now) the flower beds get saturated and the rainwater starts to run under the fence into the coop.

Then the pine shavings get wet and stinky! this is my first time as a chicken mistress so I would greatly appreciate any advice you might have.

should I put in sand?

Should I try to caulk the crack btwn the fence and the concrete?

Would hay be better than shavings?

I'm putting lots of pics below so please give me feedback about the wetness situation and any other potential problems w/ the coop.

By the way, the chickens have a large run to roam in safely during the day so they are only in the coop at night or while they are napping during the day.

Thanks so much!

 

[JudyMcKinn]

I am not sure I understand exactly how the water gets in. You have a cement floor. but it is at ground level? Or is the privacy fence one wall of the coop?
Would it be possible to dig a little ditch, or trench, along that side, so that the water is diverted around the coop, instead of running in?

 

[fowlweatherfriends]

Trench is good idea. You may want to try and brick it or block it where the rain comes in. My run is slighlty wet too when it rains (lowland) and I took lanscaping brick and edged the pen. It really helps divert the water or "dam" it up. In emergency cases where it rained heavily, I added oat straw to help as a barrier which soaked up the water before it could make it to the pen.

Best wishes!

 

[MTchick]

I'm sort of confused on how the water is moving into the pen, but I have a couple of ideas for you anyway;

If you scraped the whole thing down to the concrete, and then added a false floor on top of bricks or cinderblock, then the water would just move across the concrete floor without harming anything or getting your shavings all soggy. You'd have to make sure it didn't get moldy under there, but it would be a good temporary fix either way.

If you can actually access the spot that the water moves across the floor, you could use some caulk to attach a 2x4-- like a water-bar on a hiking trail. The 2x4 would be angled slightly, although mostly perpendicular to the movement of the water, and that angle would lead to a drainage pit or at least a lower area of dirt. The caulk makes it so that the water won't sneak under the board. Sort of like a little gutter on the concrete, but without digging a trench.

Good luck

-MTchick

 

[jkm]

try a bale of straw too, helps get them up off the floor

 

[silkiechicken]

Good suggestions... and my your ee has got some seriously green feet!

 

[kcfuerst]

I had a similar problem and every time it rained, the coop flooded. This is how I fixed it: First I drilled 3/4" holes in the concrete straight down to the dirt along the area where water accumulated. In areas where is was particularly bad, I spaced the holes about 6" apart. Then, using a concrete saw, I "sliced" a line starting shallow and ending deeper in every place where I wanted the water to drain away from the building. Worked like a charm!