issues with wet litter in my coop

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Hi Meghan,

if you really do want to do composting-type DLM (as opposed to 'I don't feel like schlepping all that litter out of here for a few months yet' style DLM <g>) on a non-earthen floor, consider tossing in some shovelsful of good garden soil (not ucky clay, not anything you buy in a bag, and not dirt from run). How many shovelsful depends on size of coop. Put it under most of the existing litter if you care about looks or white chickens

It contains all sorts of microorganisms that will get your litter started composting down (provided the litter is not too dry).

Just a thought (taken from gardening practices),

Pat

 

[crysmom]

I guess what I am struggling with is how to make more ventilation without the inside of the coop becoming "drafty" as it is when the coop door is open during the day the wind moves in there.

Yes there is some condensation on the walls, its frozen and looks like ice crystals, but we have had an unusually mild winter in the okanagan where the temps have remained 10-35 degrees farenheit not any colder or warmer. Because they were so young when I put them out in the coop and it was winter, I have a heat lamp hanging 4 feet off the litter. which maybe is causing more issues

the good thing is through all this dampness the chickens are happy ?

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Can you put the extra vents up high, ideally under the eaves if you have any, so it is not blowing ON the chickens? Also you could construct a baffle to slow wind down and direct it up and across rather than down onto chickens. Even just an appropriate sized clear Rubbermaid storage box w/one side cut away, screwed to the wall on the inside of the vent so the open side is pointing upwards, would help deflect drafts.

Good luck,

Pat, in Ontario where we were having a very cold snowy winter til last week but it is like late March now with the warm and the mud, ugh.

 

[crysmom]

Quote:
Can you put the extra vents up high, ideally under the eaves if you have any, so it is not blowing ON the chickens? Also you could construct a baffle to slow wind down and direct it up and across rather than down onto chickens. Even just an appropriate sized clear Rubbermaid storage box w/one side cut away, screwed to the wall on the inside of the vent so the open side is pointing upwards, would help deflect drafts.

Good luck,

Pat, in Ontario where we were having a very cold snowy winter til last week but it is like late March now with the warm and the mud, ugh.

Thanks for the great suggestions, i'm going to take down the board covering the underside of the overhang and see if that decreases the condensation. if it works i'll screw some hardware cloth over it. My husband is kicking himself for not installing those whirlygigs on the roof like we had originally planned. it was just so bloody cold out when we built the thing we just wanted to get it done

my suggestion is to not build a coop in subzero temperatures, the mind slows down and is only focused on getting it done!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
LOL -- I hear ya -- same goes for big horse sheds too -- that's why ours has its siding put on rather weirdly in places. It works just fine, but it LOOKS a little goofy if you notice where the screws are etcetera

Hey I had one more thought... do you use a droppings board? If not, I bet that installing one and cleaning it daily (removing that poo from the coop altogether) would REALLY help cut down on the dampness, since the poo is where most of the 'chicken damp' comes from, and a droppings board would catch maybe as much as 50% of the poo.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[JaciesCoop]

Check your waterers again. If they are just slightly tilted they will very slowly drip water on to the floor. So slowly that you might not even notice the water levels going down to fast. That's what happened to me.


Jacie

 

[mdbucks]

Quote:
Sweet PDZ is a brand name, also sold as Stall Dry, and sure goes by other names too.

 

[mdbucks]

I was doing the deep liter method too, but it has been soooo damp for so long that I finallly gave up and emptied the coop, they now have nice new clean shavings, and it has dried out, so now wondering should I have just waited, but turning daily and just seemed to not dry at all. Oh well were starting fresh now.

 

[crysmom]

I plan to use a droppings board but the chickens don't roost yet? they have a roost in there, but I don't even think they bed down for the night, because if I go out there in the dark they are up walking around, some are sleeping in the bedding at times I see some up on the roost sleeping during the day or sometimes just sitting there, but no real roosting for the night

 

[crysmom]

Quote:
Sweet PDZ is a brand name, also sold as Stall Dry, and sure goes by other names too.

thanks for letting me know i'll check out the farm supply store when I go to town