My Henhouse is wet INSIDE!!!

[Jos Hens]

We recently weatherproofed our beautiful henhouse with Clearseal (as recommended). Just the whole of the outside, not the inside. Since then the inside of the house has become wet. We lay paper on the removable tray then cover that with woodshavings. After a spate of bad weather it was wet inside - the newspaper was sodden and the walls felt damp.

To test how waterproof it is we have now covered it completely with plastic sheeting (builders stuff so completely waterproof) - no water can get in at all. We have also lined the removable tray with plastic sheeting. We laid newspaper over the plastic and then wood shavings in top of that.

We did all this last Saturday and it was dry until yesterday lunchtime and again the newspaper was wet. Note that underneath the plastic the tray was completely dry! Do you think it could be the birds causing the damp/wetness - perhaps condensation?

We are at a complete loss as to why this is happening - any advice would be appreciated - we are new at all this hen malarky!!

Here is the link for our hen house http://www.framebow.co.uk/chicken-coop-hen-arch-coop.html

The manufacturers (Framebow) are also stumped!

 

[countrygoddess]

Ooohh! That's a beautiful house! I suppose the wetness could be condensation from the chickens' breathing and poops. We have a hoop coop that is open on both ends through all but the winter and I noticed that as open as it is, when the temps dropped at night this fall, there was enough condensation on the ceiling inside that it was dripping down all over the place. So if that's what the problem is in your house, you'd need to make some venting.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

yep, no ventilation will lead to moisture build up inside and basically "rain" inside.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Agree with the prior posts that lack of ventilation seems to be your problem. The more chickens you have, the worse the problem.

Check out this article on ventilation, it may be of help. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

 

[Fred's Hens]

It is quite easy to inadvertently turn one's chicken coop into a terrarium of rainforest proportions. Great for raising tropical plants and geckos I suppose, but not so great for chickens. LOL

 

[lilchick]

For years I kept my chicken barns tightly sealed up in Winter thinking I was keeping them safe. Then found that it was not healthy for them.

Now I leave a window open partially and use a fan almost year round to draw out moist air and bring in fresh. Last Winter my turkey barn had a fan running on low and their barn stayed dry and they seemed quite content. As long as there is no draft on them...

 

[1muttsfan]

Yes, your coop has become too tight and no longer "breathes" out the moisture produced by your chickens. Add ventilation openings along the top wall away from where the chickens roost, as many as you need to prevent condensation.

 

[Jos Hens]

Hello, and thank you for all your great advice. We have this afternoon raised the long roof panel and slipped some 1inch blocks underneath it - ventilation has improved dramatically! We wondered why we didn't have the same problem last year - then realised we only had three hens then!

Finger crossed that this will sort out the problem. Thanks again for all your suggestions and helpful advice.

 

[LittleRedCoop53]

Nice coop... I bet they are right about the ventilation. How's the weather over there right now? It's getting cold and wet here in Southern Oregon. Good luck!

 

[Jos Hens]

It has rained continuously for a couple of months - Old Father Thames is near to overflowing ... I'm sure this hasn't helped our little wet problem - hey ho, fingers crossed for a dry night tonight! Thanks.