Mulch in coop under dirt?

[Kaitlyn_03]

Hey yall!
After having a hurricane come through in July or August(whenever it was) I noticed that the inside of our coop floods pretty bad. My hubby and I are trying to figure out how to raise the inside so it doesn’t flood and his first thought was mulch cause we already have some on the back of a trailer. This mulch is from the land field and is made up of lumber that the put through a chipper there. I am not sure what else they put in it cause I have found some trash and things like that in the mulch when using it for my garden. My question is would it be ok to put the mulch in the coop and them put dirt on top of it?

 

[paintedChix]

I wouldn't put dirt on top mulch.

Does the water flow into the coop? Did it come through ventilation on the coop? Open windows, no cover/roof over run?

Do you know how the area drains where your coop is? Is there clay where your coop is?

If water flows into coop, under the walls, you'll want to address that issue 1st. Does the run also flood?Multiple ways, really depends on how your coop & property are positioned. Pics would help.

Depending on what's going on, you may need to do a "foundation" - that may mean gravel, road base, sand or pounded dirt. Just like you'd build a base before pouring concret.No mulch under any of that - but on top.

Once water flowing from outside addressed, you can build up your coop floor using mulch. I would screen out the trash you mentioned. Wood chips are great - so are other natural materials - leaves, cut grass, shredded paper & cardboard, hay & straw, pine straw.

 

[aart]

Dirt on the inside to raise coop 'floor' level, trenches on the outside to drain water away from coop.

Pics of said coop would help immensely here.