Serious mold problem with Playhouse coop and sand

[drumstick diva]

Would raising your coop above ground level help? At least it wouldn't pick up dampness from the earth. Love your coop, looks like it was a fort in earlier days.

I don't think any of them are tacky but, seems like they need alot of adjustments to become a coop. Too much work for me.

 

[Underwhere]

Quote:
It's really really heavy.
I contemplated lifting the front up so the entire thing would be slightly angled to allow water to run off in a certain direction but realized it would just bend the coop to a bowl shape over time.

Currently it sits on concrete blocks which are elevated from the ground about 1-2 inches.

You're right about the work. I'm even considering building a new coop at this point but I don't think I have much work left on this one.

 

[ll]

Quote:
Bleach will clean the mold from your wood, maybe a 50/50 solution with water would be okay ~ good luck!

 

[Ole rooster]

Bleach and a a good scrubbing will do wonders. Even though you found a leak, ventilation is a key here. But to have good ventilation there needs to be a place for air to draw from. You have an exit, now what do you have for entrance for air. A low vent, window, pop door. Something needs to be left open and have the house sealed.

 

[Carolyn252]

Hi.
I've got a super cute converted plastic playhouse coop. It's about 4 feet by 4 feet square.

I've got it set up in a way that's super convenient for my three hens and it's also super convenient for me. The chickens are free to come and go from playhouse to run whenever they want, so I never have to be there to do any locking up at night or unlocking in the morning.

It's free-standing, right in the middle of the run. The run is 9 feet by 15 feet. None of the playhouse walls touch the run fencing at all.

The playhouse stands directly on the bare earth. No flooring of concrete, linoleum, plywood, or wire. Nothing. Just dirt.

I use the deep-litter method in the coop AND in the run.

I remove all the litter once a year, in the Spring. All that litter goes into the compost pile.

I start out with about two or three inches of pine shavings, and add more shavings about every six weeks or so throughout the year.

I sprinkle D E (food grade) on top of the shavings, liberally, every time I add more shavings.

I use a big leaf rake on the litter once a week or so. Just stirs it all up and makes it look all clean and neat.

The run is covered on all four side AND on top with heavy gauge welded wire.

The wire goes down into the earth for about eight inches and then flairs out in an underground apron for two feet.

Wood beams resting on top of the run's wire ceiling are taller in the front than in the back, to allow for a slanted rain barrier of corrugated clear plastic roofing panels. The roofing panels extend out beyond the run's walls about six inches all around.

The playhouse doors and windows are left open from early Spring until late Autumn; after the cold weather sets in, heavyweight clear shower curtain liners are installed on all four sides of the run with washers and screws.

After the cold weather sets in, the glass storm window is replaced in the playhouse, and the playhouse's "big" (child-size) door is shut closed.

After the cold weather sets in, a wind chill barrier of hanging strips of soft plastic are hung over the small (chicken-sized) door. The hens walk right through the strips with no problem.

For ventilation in the playhouse, the two halves of the playhouse roof were deliberately positioned with a large four-inch gap between them at the peak.

For ventilation in the run after the shower curtains completely seal the four sides, the entire ceiling is still wide open and clear. The gap to the roofing panels at the front of the run is about eight inches, and decreases to about two inches at the back of the run.

After cold weather sets in and the shower curtains are in place, NO rain gets into the run, and NO rain can therefor get into the playhouse.

In the warm seasons, when there are no shower curtain panels in place, if there is a rainstorm with wind, then rain DOES get about six inches into the run along the windward side of the run, IF the rain is wind driven. If it rains without wind, the run stays dry. With or without wind, no rain reaches so far in as to reach the playhouse.

Two or three minutes is all it takes to rake through and stir up and smooth out the litter and any rain-soaked shavings quickly dry in the warmth of the sun when the rain stops.

I keep a long-handled barbecue scraper tool hanging inside the run. I use it every morning to scrape off any poo that might be on the roost board. The inside of the playhouse is kept pristine clean and there are NEVER any smells in the playhouse OR in the run.

To prevent flies, I use two deterrents: the little yellow tree-shaped, vanilla scented, deodorant cardboards that are sold for hanging in automobiles, and the glass jars called Fly Traps. I keep one or two vanilla cardboards hanging INSIDE the run, and I've got one Fly Trap jar hanging OUTSIDE on the left side, and one on the right side, of the run, way in the back behind the run. Those Fly Traps are stinky if you get up close to them, but that's what attracts over 20,000 flies in about three or four weeks. I toss the jars and put up new ones all summer until fly season is over. They're about $8 apiece. Worth it to me!

We just finished about seven days of torrential heavy, heavy, constant rains here and our playhouse floor stayed completely dry; lots of wet litter on three sides inside the run, but the sun's out today, FINALLY, and it'll all be dry by tomorrow. NO MOLD EVER.

No heat is needed in the cold season; no air conditioning or fans are needed in the warm seasons.

Food and water are in two enameled metal bundt pans set on the floor inside the run, on the outside of the playhouse, underneath the nest box overhang.

To keep the water from freezing in the winter, I bury a covered cookie tin in the earth under the water pan. The cookie tin holds a mug warmer with its wire coming out the side of the tin and connected to a heavy duty extension cord that hangs down from the ceiling of the run. The other end is plugged into a socket on the patio.

Here are some photos, current and from last year:

With shower curtain liners in place:

Curtains have been removed:

Here you can see the little chicken door with the hanging plastic strips:

and here:

Here you can see the ventilation gap at the playhouse roof peak, and you can see the storm window in place at the rear of the playhouse:

I keep three large metal trash cans inside the run on top of that wooden table next to the playhouse. One holds the Purina Layeena crumbles, one holds bags of treats (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, pumpkin seeds, high protein kitten food pellets, and a box of dry cereal that we don't want to eat any more of; and one metal can holds scratch for cold weather afternoon treats.)

The big door to the run is left open all day when we're home and the hens free range in the grass covered back yard all day.

They have bushes and trees and shrubs to rest under for shade, and lots of sunny grass areas to bask in at will. They make wonderful hen-sized dust bath hollows at the base of the trees and the shrubs. I sprinkle DE in the hollows once a week or so.

Their free-range area in the backyard is enclosed with soft green landscaping fencing held in place by skinny metal vertical rods every ten feet or so. The fencing is four feet high. No covering on top. Property is entirely fenced so no dogs can get in. I once saw a cat walk through, but scared heck out of it and it's never returned. The raccoons come out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT in the warm season, but the girls return to the run well before dusk all on their own and I lock the big people door of the run with a padlock and key.

The bundt pans:

The mug warmer:

The nest box side of the playhouse:

 

[ll]

Carolyn252 ...

!

Well done, you should add those wonderful photos to your BYC page.

 

[Underwhere]

Quote:
Bleach. Ok I'll try that.

The roof of the coop has about a 1/2" gap between the walls.
Also, there are several windows in there that are open 100% of the time. I just put a screen on one of them. It's 12" x 12" above the feeder and 6"x6" on the adjacent wall.
I may still need more ventilation that that though. You bring up a good point.

Quote:
Very nice!

 

[duckinnut]

I dont think water leakage is the problem,more apt to say that a ventilation issue. That type of fungus grows on organic matter and very quickly. Thats why it grows overnight. There is a multitude of problems,poor ventilation, high humidity(weather and/or chickens) and moist sand with organic matter in it. Mold from water tends to be green or black yours appears to white and whispy. This is called mycelium,if you left it there long enough you would eventually get mushrooms. If you know anything about growing mushrooms you have the perfect scenario, high humidity moist organic soil with lots of nutrients(chicken poop). Commercial mushroom growers use urine soaked hay from horses but neutralize the ammonia.

 

[Underwhere]

Carolyn252, where did you get your clear roofing? I think I will end up needing that.

Today I used my wet-dry vac and tried to get absolutely everything off the floor of the coop.
I then wiped down with a natural disinfectant in the hopes of removing any mold.
I removed 3 pieces of wood that I saw mold growing on.
I sealed a bunch of edges inside the coop in the hopes that moisture would no longer make it's way in.

I took an additional step of using my heat gun on all the remaining wood that was in any way wet and it seemed to dry out pretty quick.

I will post a picture tomorrow of how it is ventilated. There is quite a bit though maybe it's not well placed.

 

[Carolyn252]

Quote:
Got them at Home Depot. If I remember correctly, the brand name was Suntuf. I deliberately got the clear, colorless, type so that there would be as much daylight passing through as possible. Be sure and also get the plastic strips of wavy bumps that support each panel where it meets your underlying surface. You'll see them right next to the panel display in Home Depot.

We mounted the panels on to the top of the beams that are on top of the welded wire ceiling of the run by just lying them on top without attaching them. No glue, no screws, no nails. We dropped a long length of rain spout (from Home Depot) down on top of the panels and then secured it by wrapping nylon rope around the ends of the spout and the ends of a structural strut of the run. That way I can just unwrap the rope and take the panels down whenever I want, to scrub the panels twice a year because of accumulated leaves and tree nuts and acorns and twigs that rain down on the panels. The instructions that come with the panels say to screw them down but I was afraid of rain leaks, even if the screws were well caulked after installation. (And also, if they got screwed, I'd never be able to get them down to scrub them.) (I don't like dirt!!)