Coops always wet and stinks

[J99]

Man I’ve tried so many things and maybe I’m trying to hard ? My husband says they are chickens and ducks their coop and runs are not supposed to be the Hilton
But how gross is ok? I wish my chickens could talk and be like ok this is what I need in here Lolol
I use straw now since it’s gotten colder , in certain bad rains my coop floods and I will throw more straw in there best I can so their feet don’t stay wet and they can walk on top of the straw but the next day the straw is wet everywhere but their feet aren’t sinking so they walk on top of the wet straw , so is that ok? At least in temps above freezing? Then if it’s about to drop temperature below freezing I hurry and throw more dry straw in there , they have roosts and dry areas inside the walled coop , my sides are wrapped in my runs . And like once a month or two , we get all the old straw out and clean everything and put in fresh straw

is this ok ?

 

[kaythlin]

It would be helpful if you added pictures of how your coop is built cause maybe I can help with how to avoid the flooding

Also I had the same problem the first year I had chickens,
I got tired and took out all the bedding sprayed the whole thing down and let it dry, after I put in wood shavings and they worked great!
They help a lot with the stench and don’t get Moldy and wet like newspaper hay and other stuff.
I’ve now not changed their bedding for months and in the winter I just let their poop pile up and that creates great insolation.
Just a tip, if you really just want to stick to straw don’t continue piling it up. Your not allowing the already wet straw to dry and just piling up the mold and nastys

I hope this helped Im only 13 so sorry if this is not very well informed!

 

[David61]

Fix the drainage. Dig a ditch, put in French drain, bring in dirt and raise ground level. The fastest fix is wood chips. You can raise ground level many inches with chips and its deep litter method anyway.
Find a tree service and ask for wood chips. They may dump their truck and save you a trip.
I had to do a little of all that but I'm dry even after a week of flooding rain. Take a look, I took some pics . Water everywhere but not iin coop or run.

 

[J99]

Ok that looks awesome and you have buff orpingtons as well I see

 

[David61]

iAs far as smell goes try some of this. Not only helps with smell but flies to. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/sweet-pdz-stall-refresher-25-lb
I use it on the poop boards. Dries it and keeps it fresh smelling.
After raking the floor I put a sprinkle down. I'll even go around the outside of coop and run if flies get to hanging around. It really keeps them down.

 

[aart]

Fix the drainage.

Yes, nothing will help until you fix this.