Problems with keeping coop dry/ bedding ideas?

[hcammack]

I am having huge problems keeping my coop closed. I have a raised coop about 2 feet of the ground here is a picture of the coop.

I have a water and feeder in the coop. I am using pine shavings in the coop for the time I have had it but instead of cleaning it out every 4 months I am cleaning it every three weeks!!! I have bin using DE and raking the shavings and trying to mix under the roosts as often as possible. Here is the layout (much messier now

) of the inside of the coop.

I am not sure if my waterer is leaking but I have used two different ones and with both the bedding is getting wet! I would love to not have it get so dirty and wet its dangerous for the birds and may cause them to get sick.

I had an idea about simply sweeping the linolum floor twice a week and using dropping trays under the shelf roost. How does that sound to you guys? I would still have shavings in the nests but not any where else.

Any other idea's about stopping them from spilling water? and also how would I eliviate cleaning and wetting of the pine shavings? Under the roosts what should I do also?

I am a full time student and exams are comeing up so I am cleaning the coop tonight like a crazy person

I feel bad about stressing the hens but I need to do it the bedding is grimy and wet.

I hope someone can help me out.

Thanks in advance,
Henry

 

[Renee]

That is one cute coop.
I gave up on shavings in the coop because I could not keep it dry and because Nugget ate the shavings.
I have a dustpan and a kitty litter scooper, and I scoop the poop off the linoleum every morning and wipe it off with a paper towel.
I keep the water in the run instead of the coop, and that helps too. If your chickens spend most of their day in the run this might be a good solution for you too.

 

[Mahonri]

Can you raise the waterer up off the floor onto some stable LEVEL blocks?

That should help... and heck, we SWEEP and MOP our coop (floor is linoleum) EVERY WEEEK.

New shavings with a DE dusting after that every week.

I'm tire of the cold though... lil' buggers only gave us 4 eggs today... good thing I have some leghorns because my dual breeds have pretty much quit.

 

[hcammack]

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I was thinking about using a scoop but my coop is pretty large to do that every morning and I have 17 hens so IDK. Thanks I may do that though.

 

[hcammack]

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I will use bricks to raise up the waterer. Not a single egg here all my best layers are molting and the little girls are two young

I may do the DE and Shavings ever other week and just use less shavings then I usually do.

Henry

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Can't tell from the pics, but if you have a run attached to the coop, you could set the waterer outside. They dont drink at night anyway.

If not, and youre waterer is leaking, it's most likely not sealing well at the lid. Clean the "O " ring well and put a little vaseline on it, and always check inside the lid to make sure it's clean also.
The lid has to be on TIGHT!!

You can tell if they are leaking when you refill it if you will watch it for a while. The pan at the bottom should never be more than about half full.

If you think the birds are just splashing it out, go to Lowe's and get a "morter mixing tub". It's a plastic pan, about $3-4, and will be in the masonry dept. Set your waterer inside that and it will catch the spills. They make good dust bath pans or feed pans, and it's hard for mice to get inside them. I find lots of uses for them.

Also put your shavings at least 6-8 inches deep, and you wont have to clean nearly as much as with shalllower depths

Good luck!

 

[briteday]

I divided my coop area in half with a 2 x 6 on edge screwed to the floor. On one side of the board are the roosts, nests, and general sleeping area...with bedding below. On the other side of the board I keep the food, water, oyster shell with only linoleum. Instead of the self watering cans I use a plain black rubber feed bowl for water, elevating it on a brick. They do poop in it sometimes but since it gets changed 2x per day I don't see that as a problem. About once every 3 days I have to squeegee out the lino-only side into the outdoor enclosure. I just use a window sqeegee that came with a long pole handle. A few swipes and it's done, less than 5 minutes. The bedding side I let go with the deep layer method, usually shredded paper from the recycle bin at work.

 

[hcammack]

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Hmm this is actually a really good Idea maybe I will do that.

 

[hcammack]

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Thanks for the suggestions how often do you mix your shavings?

 

[sara]

Henry, I think you need to get a bigger coop, it'll solve all your problems.