Terrible Coop Situation!

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Crazy for Chickens! said:
I think it comes in underneath the walls. When it rains, there's usually runoff that runs down beside the coop in a crack, and I think it seeps.in. I've tried putting more dirt up against the wall on the inside, but it hasn't helped much.
Click to expand...
Try digging a small trench outside the coop to divert run off away from wall.
Best done when it's raining hard so you can see where the water is going,
not fun but very effective.

When you say 'crack'...does that mean a crack in some concrete or.....?
 
aart said:
Try digging a small trench outside the coop to divert run off away from wall.
Best done when it's raining hard so you can see where the water is going,
not fun but very effective.

When you say 'crack'...does that mean a crack in some concrete or.....?
Click to expand...
Yes, there's concrete outside of the coop, and there's like a 2-3 inch gap in between the concrete and the coop.
 
I will try to get a better pic tomorrow.
Her is one I already posted:
IMG_0001 (2).JPG
that's concrete all in front of it. To the right is a milk barn, and for whatever reason there is concrete out front. Right up close to the coop there is the crack, that runs all the way down. Maybe I should try and pack it with dirt? But whenever it rains, that is where it all runs down, so it'd probably just erode out.
 
You can put some rubber flaps over the inside of your pop door. Similar to those clear rubber slat curtains that are inside commercial freezers. We cut a piece into 3 slats and put one down at a time so the chickens got used to it. No more wild birds in the coop eating the food or bringing in whatever they have.

Once you get the mites cleared up a monthly regimen of cod liver oil rubbed on the legs and feet keeps them in good condition.

I have a dirt floor, I use deep litter sort of. My chickens are rarely in the coop, but they follow me in there if I have a treat. I toss scratch in there once or twice a week to encourage them to stir things up. I've used bedding straw and pine flakes and both work well. I prefer the straw, but I do have to wet it down once in a while to help the decomp process along.

Good luck!

@penny1960 you have bare dirt floors in your coops. How often do you clean them? I know you're very regular about it.
 
Additional dirt (burm) helped me but it wasn’t until I dug trenches to divert the water flow did I have dry dirt in my run. @aart gave good advice. I would go out in the rain and rake the tip of the shovel so I’d know where to trench. I eventually built burms out in my yard so what didn’t get damed up would run away from my run. 1 area about 10ft from the run another 3ft from the run. Each year they get reenforced. Now it’s just part of the landscape. Made a huge difference. Best wishes
 
I would if you can afford it get a load of gravel in to raise up your floor. That's what we had to do. We add some in yearly as the chickens consume some, and it gets packed down. Once the inside floor is higher than outside you can decide whether to bed it down or manage the gravel. In warmer weather we rake off the droppings as necessary. In winter we add a layer of hay to get birds off the floor a bit in parts.

I don't know how handy you are but adding windows would be nice so you can control ventilation and let in light.

We also replaced some tin on ours when it was tin to see through panels for extra light.
 

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