Soaked Coop Floor!! Help!

[Petra Pancake]

I had a problem with a wet and muddy coop floor at the beginning of winter. My coop floor is part plastic and part natural earth (= it sits straight on the ground) and I had rainwater soaking through from where the walls meet the ground. After unsuccessfully trying twigs and shredded palm leaves as litter, I finally settled for a good layer of sand. That has helped keeping the coop (and the chickens) a lot more dry and clean. Maybe a layer of sand underneath your litter might help.

 

[brownrhi]

Thanks for everyone's help! Putting the water on a cinder block as well as staying attached by a chain hanging from the ceiling was the solution to my problem. No more wet bedding!! Thanks

 

[aart]

Thanks for everyone's help! Putting the water on a cinder block as well as staying attached by a chain hanging from the ceiling was the solution to my problem. No more wet bedding!! Thanks

Good News!

 

[brownrhi]

The general opinion is 4 sq ft per bird for the coop plus an additional 10 sq ft for the run. If the birds are confined indoors you should at least double your coop area. I'm surprised you aren't having some behavioral issues like bullying, feather picking, egg eating...
Check out CL. Look for some chainlink dog run panels. Doubling the size of the coop will go a long way. I can usually find them for $20-50 apiece. If you can orient the run so you have some sun exposure. Chickens love to sunbathe in the winter.

What type of floor is good for a winter run. We opened our coop up to have acces to their run now but there is snow on the ground in the run and I'm not sure if they will walk in it.... I guess even if I add floor, the snow is still going to fall through the chicken wire onto the run...

 

[brownrhi]

Get a temporary run setup so that the chickens can at least choose whether they want go out or not. Also, since they don't come down to drink once they go to roost for the night, you can bring the water inside your house in the evening. That way, there is less moisture in the air at night, and water won't freeze. 

What type of floor is good for a winter run. We opened our coop up to have acces to their run now but there is snow on the ground in the run and I'm not sure if they Will walk on it...

 

[mobius]

I put down straw, others use hay, on top of the snow. Scatter some scratch and the chickens will mix it up for you...Mine have now learned to walk on snow as long as there is a bit of a beaten down path (dogs are handy for that).

 

[juanmbravo]

What type of floor is good for a winter run. We opened our coop up to have acces to their run now but there is snow on the ground in the run and I'm not sure if they will walk in it.... I guess even if I add floor, the snow is still going to fall through the chicken wire onto the run...

Let them out in the snow. There's a few inches in the run right now and my 11 girls are out everyday. Today it's 24F and expecting 6 more inches of snow by tomorrow. I never close their coop door... even at night they are out first thing in the morning without fail. My coop is raised and they do take breaks resting in the layer of straw I placed underneath it, especially when windy. Water and food is outside of the coop in their run. They come out of the coop at dawn and don't go back in till nighttime. Even their nesting boxes are outside the coop.

 

[mobius]

Let them out in the snow. There's a few inches in the run right now and my 11 girls are out everyday. Today it's 24F and expecting 6 more inches of snow by tomorrow. I never close their coop door... even at night they are out first thing in the morning without fail. My coop is raised and they do take breaks resting in the layer of straw I placed underneath it, especially when windy. Water and food is outside of the coop in their run. They come out of the coop at dawn and don't go back in till nighttime. Even their nesting boxes are outside the coop.

Yep. That is what I did and they have gotten used to being out in the run and from there to the fenced yard. The run is covered. I close them up in the coop and run overnight but the , they are out all day, and the pop door stays open always. They seem very happy. My climate is similar...the straw just helped to train them to walk on the snow as they are still young and it is new to them...