Flooded Coop! How do I dry it out???

[sphillips]

Last Wednesday we had a really good rain, (which we need, as we are in the middle of a drought). Unfortunately, my chicken coop and barn flooded, to the point that we had to put boards down for the chickens to walk on. The coop has a dirt floor. We got through the worst of it, but the coop floor is taking forever to dry. We have had much higher humidity than usual, and what should have dried in a day or so, is still wet and mucky three days later. I'm guessing the coop was about 4" deep in water. I've got a fan going, trying to dry it out now, as I have a truckload of sand that I want to put in there. The ground has to dry first right? Also, now, which was never a problem in the past, I've got TONS of flies! Never had an issue with them up till now, and the whole place stinks to high heaven. I'm so discouraged! Is there anything I can do to try to make the floor dry faster, so I can get the sand down? Will the sand help? Will the flies go away once everything dries? I keep my coop very clean, so this really bothers me! We're expecting heavy rains again next week, and we're going to work on getting the coop as water proof as possible by then. Installing gutters, and I think some spray foam up high at the roof level. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Sand is great stuff. I use it myself in muddy spots (and in my coop).

If your coop is the open air type I'd just put the sand down now. If it is pretty enclosed I'd wait until it dried some. Sounds like it will just take time. Have you thought about installing a drain or trench, or regrading the land a bit (all spendy unless you are handy with a tractor)? Here is a nice page:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-fix-a-muddy-run-chicken-coop

 

[ChickDrmr]

Just today I put sand in my run because it keeps flooding every time it rains. It has been flooded for about a week so I decided that was enough. Spent the afternoon laying down sand and it worked wonders! The girls were checking it all out when i heard them start purring. I've only heard them do that a few times so I'm taking it as they approve.
I looked all over trying to find the course natural sand, but it was going to have to be a truckload and I didn't want to stock pile it in my yard. So I went to Lowes and got the Sakrete natural clean sand for $2.50 a bag. I also got drainage rock to go around the boarder on the inside since it would be sitting up against wood. We'll see if there's any problem with that.
I think I'll end up putting sand in my coop next, everyone seems to love it. I haven't read anything about people that have tried sand and hated it.
Good luck and hope you stay high and dry!

 

[sphillips]

Fortunately, the problem is not that the coop sits too low, it's that the roof slopes to the back where the run is. There is very little overhang where the back of the roof meets the top of the wall, and what happened was all that rainwater ran down the roof right into the run, under the edge of the coop, and flooded it. My husband (bless his heart, this coop is never finished), is installing gutter today on the backside so that the water will run out and away from the coop. We don't get much rain here usually, and what we've had recently didn't do much of anything but leave a few damp spots that dried right away. This was unusual for us, but we are expected to get lots more rain next week, again out of the ordinary. I'm hoping the gutter will help. We will also put sand in the other half of the run for now as it's dry. The sandy side survived the storm wonderfully. Has been dry since the day after the rain. I just hate the stink and the flies! I also know it's not healthy for the chickens. As soon as the inside dries well, we'll put sand in there as well, but hope that the gutter will solve the majority of the problem.

 

[sphillips]

We had a load of coarse riverbed sand delivered, so I'm hoping it will hold up. Like I said in my earlier post, the side of the run that we had put sand in did extremely well! I'm a sand supporter!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

when i heard them start purring. I've only heard them do that a few times so I'm taking it as they approve.

Awww you made them happy!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

hope that the gutter will solve the majority of the problem.

x2!