Floorless chicken coops and damp ?

[stokiechicks]

I'm planning on building a chicken coop with no floor, so all the poop goes straight onto the soil. How feasible is this considering that the winters are wet here and the soil below the coop will most likely be wet?

Thanks

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
where is here. um er what part of the country are you located.

I have dirt floors in my coop and use rice hulls I keep adding rice hulls.... or shavings. I clean very rarely. Rice hulls stay drier on the surface. My coop is in the desert. If I were in a wet climate I would use pavers or horse stall mats inside of the coop to keep the moisture down or drain it off. My coop is pretty much open on two sides with walls for wind breaks it only takes 48 hours for everything to be dry after a hard rain. We only get about ten inches per year.

deb

 

[stokiechicks]

I'm in London, Uk. In winter the soil is pretty much wet all the time. I wanted to go with a dirt floor so I could use the deep litter method but I'm now having second thoughts, mainly because the makeshift coop I've been trying this out with has problems with a couple of sick chickens, which I'm assuming is probably to do with the dampness.

 

[NixNoodleNumbat]

It is wet for most of Aurumn here, and the Chooks do NOT like water or mud. The only suggestion I have is to put a floor on your coop, or to dig a small thing around the coop(like a moat) to keep most or the water out. I'm guessing the Chooks would be sleeping on roosts, which would keep them a bit more dry.

 

[Judy]

I don't believe a wet dirt floor is good. I have never had anything but dirt floors, and don't want any other kind. But I had to haul in dirt before building the last coop so it would be several inches higher than the surrounding land, so it would drain. Another idea is to put down a barrier, then sand, the barrier to hold the sand in, and sand because it drains well.

You can dig a ditch around the area to drain the water away, if you have a lower place so the water will stay away.

Here is a link to a good page about muddy runs; the concepts should apply to a coop as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
I use the Deep litter method on a dirt floor. My coop is on a raised brick foundation over a pit that I fill with mulch, it composts in place. See my BYC page for pics. If your soil is too wet, then raise the coop to keep a dirt floor.

 

[gmendoza]

Mine is a dirt floor but with the deep liter meathod.I have no moisture since I build a dirt berm around the coop and run for water runnnoft.

 

[Appalachian Chickens]

Our coop has a 1/2" wire mesh floor and underneath that I have a tarp that I can pull out. On top of the tarp I put a couple inches of sawdust.

This keeps the coop clean and makes changing out sawdust easy. I put the sawdust in the compost.

I did however just put in some cardboard sheets and about 4 inches of sawdust on top of the wire because it's about 10 degrees F right now and
that may help keep it a little warmer.

 

[stokiechicks]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll raise the dirt floor and throw in some sand for drainage. The moat idea is a good one too

Thanks



Quote:
The tarp and cardboard is something I'll try

Quote:
I use the Deep litter method on a dirt floor. My coop is on a raised brick foundation over a pit that I fill with mulch, it composts in place. See my BYC page for pics. If your soil is too wet, then raise the coop to keep a dirt floor.

Now that's just plain genius

A composting pit underneath a coop - wow I like that. That's a project for the future.

 

[LoveNewChicks]

are there raccoons or other animals that could dig under the coop?