Our coop doesn’t have a floor

[eevans1213]

I need some advice on how to treat a damp area of our coop. Our chickens will be moving into the coop in 12 days. We are working to prepare it as best we can before they are in here. Including lots of ventilation. As you can see in this photo, where the arrows are pointing to the darker parts of the soil, is very damp. This is because this building has no floor, it is a natural dirt floor and the roof is slanted toward the back of the building, therefor falling directly onto the soil against the back wall and seeping into the building. We are working on installing a gutter system to divert the rainwater elsewhere. We hope this will solve the majority of this problem of the rainwater soaking into the coop. But I do not believe that the ground is going to be dry enough in 12 days. My thoughts are to lay sand down on the damp part, and place a rip-stop vapor barrier over that. Then add the litter on top of that. (We plan to do a Deep Litter Method, which is why I worry about the wet soil causing the compost to become very foul smelling very quickly and cause harm to the chickens). If anyone has any experience in this area (wet soil in a dirt floor/no floor coop) Please let me know if this is a good start or if there are other options that would work better! Thanks in advance!

 

[50-45-1]

My coop also has a dirt floor.
It's a one way slanted roof with southern facing windows so it warms up nicely when the sun is out.
My husband built the building and installed gutter immediately.
Moisture has never been a problem.
I would get a couple bags of wood shavings and throw it down. The shavings will help wick up and dry the soil. The chickens will enjoy scratching it around. Then in a month or so rake it up and compost or discard it.
The gutter is crutal tho to stop the water from getting in.
A wood shaving routine will be nice for them to continue.
It adds interest for the chickens, and a good clean will do the coop good.
Every time I clean mine a little of the dirt gets totted out to, so each year I also add a couple wheelbarrow loads of new dry dirt to fill it back in.
Good luck!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I was about to tell you about how here in the PNW, no floor didn't work so well for me, for a new expansion I did to my coop where I left the ground under roost bars bare for "deep litter method," with sand. It was always way to wet and gross so I opted to add flooring and poop boards, I'm much happier....... But I just looked at the coop page for 50-45-1 and that is very cool!! If you're going with no floor, I'd definitely pay attention to the success of that coop - bravo

 

[eevans1213]

My coop also has a dirt floor.
It's a one way slanted roof with southern facing windows so it warms up nicely when the sun is out.
My husband built the building and installed gutter immediately.
Moisture has never been a problem.
I would get a couple bags of wood shavings and throw it down. The shavings will help wick up and dry the soil. The chickens will enjoy scratching it around. Then in a month or so rake it up and compost or discard it.
The gutter is crutal tho to stop the water from getting in.
A wood shaving routine will be nice for them to continue.
It adds interest for the chickens, and a good clean will do the coop good.
Every time I clean mine a little of the dirt gets totted out to, so each year I also add a couple wheelbarrow loads of new dry dirt to fill it back in.
Good luck!

Thank you so much @50-45-1 ! I appreciate you taking the time to read and respond to my post! We are going to put the gutter up in the next few days and I’ll definitely start working on soaking up the moisture with shavings! Our building is also south facing and gets lots of sun. Once we get more ventilation opened up in the next few days I am sure that’ll also help dry things up some! Again, thank you so much for your help!

 

[eevans1213]

I was about to tell you about how here in the PNW, no floor didn't work so well for me, for a new expansion I did to my coop where I left the ground under roost bars bare for "deep litter method," with sand. It was always way to wet and gross so I opted to add flooring and poop boards, I'm much happier....... But I just looked at the coop page for 50-45-1 and that is very cool!! If you're going with no floor, I'd definitely pay attention to the success of that coop - bravo

Thank you @SandyRiverChick ! Per your recommendation I checked out 50-45-1 coop and that was very helpful! I’m hoping we can make the dirt floor work well!

 

[RoyalChick]

I have a dirt floor.
In the run I get some wet patches and in those areas everything composts down nicely and the chickens find lots of worms and beetles.
Inside the ‘house’ part it is dry. Too dry really. Sometimes I hose it down!
The dark soil you showed won’t be an issue. It isn’t like standing water. Just tip some shavings on top and it will be fine for your chickens to move in. A gutter will likely get rid of those damp patches entirely but I would do that when you have the chance - not an emergency.
Just remember with a dirt floor you need to prevent digging predators from getting in. I have a hardware cloth skirt all around the outside.

 

[eevans1213]

I have a dirt floor.
In the run I get some wet patches and in those areas everything composts down nicely and the chickens find lots of worms and beetles.
Inside the ‘house’ part it is dry. Too dry really. Sometimes I hose it down!
The dark soil you showed won’t be an issue. It isn’t like standing water. Just tip some shavings on top and it will be fine for your chickens to move in. A gutter will likely get rid of those damp patches entirely but I would do that when you have the chance - not an emergency.
Just remember with a dirt floor you need to prevent digging predators from getting in. I have a hardware cloth skirt all around the outside.

 

[eevans1213]

@RoyalChick Thank you so so much for your advice AND reassurance! Your reply is very helpful! Such a relief to know that the moisture shouldn’t be too big of an issue. We also just got a huge snow a few weeks ago, followed by a lot of rain. I guess after all that weather, it’s a very good sign that the ground isn’t worse than it is! Yes I have thought a lot about how to predator proof the floor. I’d love to do a skirt eventually but for now we’re going to line the inside of the coop with large wide stones, as well as the outside with a mix of gravel/stones to help discourage predators from borrowing. Praying this is enough! But thankfully we can always change things or do more if it isn’t enough! Going to also do a tall roost in hopes that if anything DOES get in the chickens will stand a chance if they get up high.

 

[RoyalChick]

@RoyalChick Thank you so so much for your advice AND reassurance! Your reply is very helpful! Such a relief to know that the moisture shouldn’t be too big of an issue. We also just got a huge snow a few weeks ago, followed by a lot of rain. I guess after all that weather, it’s a very good sign that the ground isn’t worse than it is! Yes I have thought a lot about how to predator proof the floor. I’d love to do a skirt eventually but for now we’re going to line the inside of the coop with large wide stones, as well as the outside with a mix of gravel/stones to help discourage predators from borrowing. Praying this is enough! But thankfully we can always change things or do more if it isn’t enough! Going to also do a tall roost in hopes that if anything DOES get in the chickens will stand a chance if they get up high.

One suggestion. Do a daily walk around the perimeter so you. Am see if anything has been digging.
Also, you can do a skirt in the surface relatively easily (I mean without digging down) and just lay the gravel on top.

 

[eevans1213]

One suggestion. Do a daily walk around the perimeter so you. Am see if anything has been digging.
Also, you can do a skirt in the surface relatively easily (I mean without digging down) and just lay the gravel on top.

Definitely will do a daily perimeter scan! We are home everyday most of the day so that will be no problem. Oh okay! That is a good idea about the skirt! Will probably go ahead and do that before we lay down the rocks! We are so excited for our chickens and we just want them to be as safe as possible, as affordably as possible!