MY coop is leaking!

[musikfan6]

Good evening folks.

I hope you all are doing well.

I need some re-assurance here. I'm in central PA and we are getting rained on pretty steady today. I went into the coop this evening to check on my 6 week old ladies (who have been doing extremely well). I open the door to the coop only to find multiple places where the rain is leaking in through the roof of my 9 x 18 coop (about 5 or 6 different spots). The drips are not super fast, but they are steady with about 4 or 5 seconds between drips. The girls are all huddled together under the heat lamp, and they look to be dry, but I'm concerned that some of them might be stupid enough to possibly lay where the water is dripping. There are plenty of "dry spots", but I'm worried that they might get sick or something. Will they be OK until I get get a temporary repair on my roof? I didn't realize my roof leaked that badly. There was only one spot last time and I put a tarp over it and had no problems during the last rain. But this time the rain has been much steadier and heavier, so now I guess I'm seeing the real condition of my roof. I just hope they'll be OK until I can "fix it". I can't really bring them back in the garage as the brooder is way too small for the 8 of them now. What do you all think??

 

[RonC]

They should be ok if they can find dry a dry spot in the coop. Are there any dry roosts in the coop they can get on? Maybe move the light to the driest area in the coop of throw the tarp on the roof again.

 

[musikfan6]

Well, they really aren't roosting at this point. They almost always lay on the pine shavings. I don't know why, but this is what they do. I do have several roosts, but they are not placing themselves there.

Thanks for the reassurance, though. I just don't want them to get sick or anything.

 

[cary 1973]

i would try and do a temp fix like using garbag bags held down by rock or somthign to help dry it out and maybe try and wipe up the wet spots possible put teh chicks in the roost with teh heat lamp there. im new to this so just guessing

 

[hearts34]

Over the spot they like to sleep and congregate the most, get a 4 x 4 sheet of something 3/8" plywood, paneling something cheap. Temporarily tack up on the bottom of the roof joists. this way it will be an inside shed until you can repair the exterior.

A tarp will work on the inside as well if you have some furring strips to tack to bottom of roof joists to hold it in place.

 

[Joe.G]

If you coop is 9 Ft by 18 Ft that is a decent size coop, do your Chicks have full use of it? if so there is plenty of areas for them to stay dry, Keep the light out of the drips and in a dry area and they will be fine. WHat kind of roof do you have? do you have any pic's of your coop and roof? Maybe if I see them i can give you some repair tips.

 

[PeepsAreForMe]

Hey Musikfan6 - I'm in NJ and know all about the rain you are talking about! We put our new coop together Saturday, when it was sunny and dry. Our girls are only 3 weeks so we have time, but there was just one small wet spot inside, probably because the little vent was open. We did get some unusually heavy rains. Good luck with your coop. Oh and on a totally unrelated topic, my husband and I spent a weekend in Lititz a few years ago, it's an adorable town!! I can't remember the place we stayed at though.