wet floor

[skawyo]

We recently moved into a new house that already has a lean-to attached to garage. We put walls up for a coop but left the floor bare dirt. Unfortunetly, the NW rainy weather is causing the floor to be very wet. We have it drained so there are no puddles but the dirt is still moist. Any ideas about this? It is not leaking, just seeping through the soil.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You might try a very small area in sand covering it to see if you like it. Some do and some don't.

 

[skawyo]

Is it easy to add some kind of bedding over the sand? The girls free range all day and we like to use the coop bedding for composting. The bedding just got too wet to use only that.

I did read a article about sand. How well do people like that? I guess I should go look at some threads about it.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Is it easy to add some kind of bedding over the sand? The girls free range all day and we like to use the coop bedding for composting. The bedding just got too wet to use only that.

I did read a article about sand. How well do people like that? I guess I should go look at some threads about it.

I use sand in my two shed coops.

I take a plastic rake and rake up the droppings in my coops, then sift with a large metal kitty litter scoop. I then have a bucket of poo to put wherever I want for fertilizing.

I would try a very small area at first to see if it works for you- the chickens will dig and it will eventually mix with the dirt...but sand gives better drainage. I wouldn't put shavings down where they will get wet- they turn smelly and mushy. I have tried shavings on top of sand outside- nasty smell.

The BYC search engine doesn't work very well anymore...you might google "backyardchickens sand run coop" or something like that to find more threads.

 

[skawyo]

Thanks for the input. I appreciate you sharing your experience. Maybe we will try some sand.

 

[DallasCriftins]

Is it wet because it is in a low point and the entire floor is acting as a sump?
Is it wet because the ground water levels are just high?

If neither of the above dig a sump in the lowest part of the floor
say 2'X2'X2' and see if it fills with water after a few days.
If it does see what level it stops at

if it is close to the surface your only option may be to raise the floor level.
but if the water is several inches below the surface fill that sump with sand and you should find the floor drains better and begins to dry out as well.

 

[DallasCriftins]

I have a very wet field at the moment
I usually maintain the water level in my pond about a foot higher than in this picture as we rarely get as much rain as we have had this winter.



We have had so much rain I pulled the plug out (well it is an adjustable pipe actually!) and drained it by a foot or so
The effect has been to help drain my field to a degree by lowering the local water table.

in the spring I will allow the level to rise again

 

[skawyo]

Well water is kind of an issue on the whole property. We have a pretty thick clay layer not too far down so the water seeps in really slowly. And we live in the PNW. So I *think* when it rains, the water sits above that clay layer and runs through the soil downhill. So even though the coop is covered, it is wet.

We were talking about it and we may have to put some kind of floor. I don't know about wood. Maybe laying out some stone, like it is cobbled. Then some bedding over it? It is kind of a conundrum.

 

[LiveFromTahoe]

I'd agree on the sump or a french drain of some sort. May also want to add a two inch layer of gravel then geotech fabric and then your sand. That way your sand should drain pretty well and will keep it from mixing with the rock. Good luck!