Advice on flooring, and cleaning, in a permanent coop pls

[kathyd]

Hi

We've just finished putting a new roof on a large outbuilding with a view to allocating about 1/3 of it to the chickens. The floor is concrete on one half, a gully down the middle and a damaged hard surface on the other half. After the heavy rains we've just had we've discovered why half the floor is damaged - the water bubbles up (gently but in several places) from underneath and flows out of the building via the gully... wish we'd known before we did the roof! However... we still intend to put them inside because it's more secure, and it will only be wet occasionally, and the water isn't deep, and they do seem to like paddling! And the other half will be dry anyway. But.. I'm no longer sure what to put on the floor. I've bought some small bales of straw which I was going to use, but I obviously can't do that on the half that's prone to getting wet. We're considering gravel - is this suitable? If so, how would we clean it? Do you think it'll be OK to leave the gully exposed, or should we cover it somehow?

In more general terms, can anyone offer any advice on cleaning a permanent, large structure please? Our current coop is a tiny wooden backyard thing which, whilst badly designed and hard to clean, is at least all visible and within reach. We're going to put this into the outbuilding for now to act as a sleeping area, but may dispose of it in the longer term.

Thanks in advance

[chris]

I use wood chip/shavings on the floor of my run. In the coop I just use newspaper on the floor- 1 newspaper / week, each day I take the top soiled layer of and compost it. Straw in my nestbox.

If the floor in the building gets wet, you'd probably want to ensure good ventilation so it's not damp in there.

You can buy rubber chips (recycled tyres), that can be hosed down.. I had pea gravel in my old small run - but they didn't seem keen on it to be honest

[Donny]

Have you considered putting a raised floor in it, say about 2", covered in a lyno floor covering which can be sealed at the edges?

No more wet floor and easy to clean, I actually had to do this with mine 6 years ago, still working fine.

[bearded bloke]

Sounds like the floor is below the level of the water table,is there a point on your property lower than the floor of the out building ?If so cut some large slots into the damaged floor to run into the gully,dig them out & fill with rubble & pea shingle then pipe the gully to the low point.

[RichmondHens]

I really would advise against putting the chickens in this outbuilding - chickens do not enjoy being wet or even just damp - but if you must then give them the driest corner in the shed, and make sure they roost high up above the dampness, you don't want them sleeping on the floor.

As for cleaning, do as you would do with horses or any other farm animal, use a shovel and broom to clear out the muck. Chickens on a high roost actually make very little mess as they tend to fly up and down without treading in the muck (well at least mine do) just leaving you tidy little piles of poo underneath the perch to sweep out every few days.

Be aware also that red mite is much harder to spot and treat in an outbuilding than a purpose build hen house. I suggest preventative treatment like creosote on all wood (treat the perches as well and do not let the hens use them until they are bone dry) and plenty of diatomaceous earth in the nestbox litter.

[kathyd]

Thanks for all your advice, it's given us a lot to think about. We will obviously have to sort out some suitable drainage in the longer term, as Bearded Bloke suggests, and we like the idea of vinyl on top of gravel unless anyone knows any reason why this is a bad idea....

In the meantime, don't worry RH, the outbuilding is huge - almost as big as the ground floor of our house - and the hens will have 1/3 of it, of which only the right hand side is damp, the other side is a solid concrete base about 3" higher and above any water which is getting in. Just this side alone gives 8 chickens loads of room, especially since they'll be outside whenever they want to as well. I'm intending to build some higher up perches, but will also be putting their existing small coop in there for them to sleep in for now - it's on legs with a ramp up, so no way they're going to get wet, honest .