Gah, Wet Shoes!

[hokankai]

So, anyone who lives in the Northwest is probably very familiar with this problem. I'm using the DLM and have noticed a slight ammonia smell in my coop. I have a poop board and scrape it every coupe of days. I'm pretty sure there's no water getting in the windows or the door...HOWEVER, my coop shoes are ALWAYS wet. The chicken coop is a short walk from the house and by the time I get there my shoes are wet. I'm assuming the water from my shoes is causing the ammonia smell. How do you keep your shoes from getting wet?! Luckily I only step inside the door, so I can just scoop out the wet bedding, but is there something I can use to help with this problem? DE or Stall Dri?

 

[jettgirl24]

Ugh I feel your pain! I got my girls last spring and I didn't have issues over summer since it was mostly dry and there was grass in their run. By end of summer they had finally dug up the last of the grass and as soon as the rain started it became a slimy muddy mess despite my best efforts to keep it clean. Yuk!

I'm not sure what your coop setup looks like so maybe these things won't help but it's worth a shot! My coop only has one human sized door that the chickens and I both use and the floor of the coop is at ground level with the run so EVERYTHING gets tracked in and out. I put a length of 2x4 across the door to help keep shavings in and mud out, this has really made a big difference so far. I also just put new footing in my run and although it has only been in for a few days I am thrilled with it. I got a bunch of free pea gravel and put 4" down. So far it's been awesome. The chickens seem to like it and best of all it has self cleaned so far... The rain seems to be dissolving most of their droppings and what it didn't get I just sprayed down with the hose. All of it was gone. Best of all, a few minutes on the gravel and the chickens have clean feet... Nothing getting tracked back inside. Same goes for me, walking across the gravel cleans off my rubber boots and nothing gets tracked inside. Since I put it in I there definitely seems to be less water and mud getting tracked inside making things damp.

I am using DLM too and just cleaned out the coop in September. It worked great over the summer but I am less happy with it in this weather because I'm getting a little bit of an odor too. There are two things that I'm doing inside that seem to help. First, I keep a rake handy and mix the shavings every day. I used to do it every few days to once a week but raking every day has helped a bit. Also, I was adding new shavings every three weeks or so over the summer. Lately I've started adding a slightly smaller amount more often (every week or so). The new shavings help keep the coop less smelly and absorb any dampness that does get inside. I haven't tried DE or Stall-Dri yet but I'm planning to get a bag to see if that will help as well.