Found small patch of wood rot on coop floor - how to fix?

[lamorris]

Hi all. My coop is raised off the ground by cement blocks, and the floor is unfinished plywood covered by deep shavings. Today I discovered my waterer was leaking, and sure enough when I scraped away the shavings underneath, there was a patch of wood rot. I scraped away the softest wood, and left it to dry out (the chickens aren't inside at the moment - they're out in their run). I'd like to avoid having to actually cut out any wood and try treating it with something like Board Defense but was worried it wouldn't be safe for the chickens if I used something like this. Anyone have advice? Thank you!

PS - I plan to cover the floor with linoleum to avoid this happening again

 

[Compost King]

if you are going to have a waterer in the floor I would suggest putting in hardware cloth (screen) under it so any water spilt will have a way out of the coop. If you want to save money on material then have holes drilled into plywood or gaps between boards on the floor. That litter at the bottom needs to breath. My first coop had a waterproof floor and it lead to all types of problems, now all my coops have a beathing floor and I keep all water out of the coop and in the run since the only time the chickens are locked in the coop is when they are roosting.

This picture is what I found out to be the perfect floor for a chicken coop made with materials I can access or free. A Pallet combined with thin strips of wood from discarded crates that a local business just gives to me (they even deliver in exchange for free eggs)
When I do not have the the thin strips I use bamboo that ended up splitting. I have found that air from beneath to dry out manure in the straw bedding I use has ended all odors in the coop I clean out my coops every 6 months with composting schedule and never is there an odor. If needed add another layer of straw...

 

[snow5164]

I’d see how it drys out , if it’s solid you could patch it with a roll on water proof product then lay linoleum down. My coops have linoleum and sand and is great for cleaning and water spilling ( which happens ),I tried deep litter and ended up with mould ( out it went)

Ask you to lumber yard for low fume products , birds are sensitive

 

[lamorris]

if you are going to have a waterer in the floor I would suggest putting in hardware cloth (screen) under it so any water spilt will have a way out of the coop. If you want to save money on material then have holes drilled into plywood or gaps between boards on the floor. That litter at the bottom needs to breath. My first coop had a waterproof floor and it lead to all types of problems, now all my coops have a beathing floor and I keep all water out of the coop and in the run since the only time the chickens are locked in the coop is when they are roosting.

This picture is what I found out to be the perfect floor for a chicken coop made with materials I can access or free. A Pallet combined with thin strips of wood from discarded crates that a local business just gives to me (they even deliver in exchange for free eggs) View attachment 1461858
When I do not have the the thin strips I use bamboo that ended up splitting. I have found that air from beneath to dry out manure in the straw bedding I use has ended all odors in the coop I clean out my coops every 6 months with composting schedule and never is there an odor. If needed add another layer of straw...

My chickens are also only locked in at night when sleeping - it's okay to not provide water overnight?

 

[cholland]

They don't eat or drink at night. But they may want it when they get up at dawn, so if they can't get outside until you open the door you might want to leave it in.
My smaller coop has an auto door and the feed and water is all outside. Just make sure it is rodent safe or you'll be raising mice and rats too.

 

[lamorris]

I’d see how it drys out , if it’s solid you could patch it with a roll on water proof product then lay linoleum down. My coops have linoleum and sand and is great for cleaning and water spilling ( which happens ),I tried deep litter and ended up with mould ( out it went)

Ask you to lumber yard for low fume products , birds are sensitive

Thanks. Yes, I'm not really doing the deep litter method - I have only 4 hens so it's no big deal to just scoop out the coop daily and when the shavings get low, I just throw an entire new bag in, which I just did recently so it's still pretty deep at the moment.

 

[lamorris]

They don't eat or drink at night. But they may want it when they get up at dawn, so if they can't get outside until you open the door you might want to leave it in.
My smaller coop has an auto door and the feed and water is all outside. Just make sure it is rodent safe or you'll be raising mice and rats too.

Thanks! I just assumed I should put water in at night - good to know I don't have to if they are able to get out to it early enough. Coincidentally I just got an automatic door delivered today and need to install it this week - once I do that I'll just leave the water in the run to keep it simple.