And now...the run....

Question: We are new to the Pacific Northwest and I'm wondering about rainy climates - what do you suggest I do so that the smaller run near the coop will stay dry enough for the chickens to use it during the rainy days? Our coop has a small run that actually attaches to the house, but we have not built the large run (as our chicks are a week old). We do have designs for it.

I want to use construction/river sand at the bottom of the small coop run so that the it stays as dry as possible on rainy days and drains well. I am building the coop on higher ground in the yard, but it still rains here for short AND long periods of time. There will be a roof on the top covering all sections of the enclosure, is that along with the sand base enough?

memrymaker said:

Question: We are new to the Pacific Northwest and I'm wondering about rainy climates - what do you suggest I do so that the smaller run near the coop will stay dry enough for the chickens to use it during the rainy days? Our coop has a small run that actually attaches to the house, but we have not built the large run (as our chicks are a week old).  We do have designs for it.   

I want to use construction/river sand at the bottom of the small coop run so that the it stays as dry as possible on rainy days and drains well.  I am building the coop on higher ground in the yard, but it still rains here for short AND long periods of time.  There will be a roof on the top covering all sections of the enclosure, is that along with the sand base enough?

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I don't have any experience with sand in the run. I would think it would be a necessity to cover the run in your climate. You will likely want much more roof overhang than I have as well.

We will be doing deep litter beginning with a load of wood chips from a local tree trimmer but right our run is just bare earth with a bit of grass. It's been very rainy here for the last month or so and the run has been damp but not muddy at all. I had debated about leaving part of the run uncovered but I'm certain now that we did the right thing by covering it all.

memrymaker said:

Question: We are new to the Pacific Northwest and I'm wondering about rainy climates - what do you suggest I do so that the smaller run near the coop will stay dry enough for the chickens to use it during the rainy days? Our coop has a small run that actually attaches to the house, but we have not built the large run (as our chicks are a week old). We do have designs for it.

I want to use construction/river sand at the bottom of the small coop run so that the it stays as dry as possible on rainy days and drains well. I am building the coop on higher ground in the yard, but it still rains here for short AND long periods of time. There will be a roof on the top covering all sections of the enclosure, is that along with the sand base enough?

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Agrees with Terry's advice.....solid roof, large over hangs.
Also make sure any significant run off from roofs, hardscaping, surrounding area, etc is routed away from run area using swales, trenches, gutters, etc.

Forget the sand, was a big fad, some still swear by it...and it can work well in an arid climate
Yes, sandy soil drains well, but it's really not great for chicken bedding.
It will eventually become saturated with pulverized poop and stink to high heaven when damp.
Then what do you do with it?! I used it in chick brooder, mixed with PDZ(zeolite), yes it's easy to sift clean but eventually was untennable. I used to to fill holes in yard from an auto accident, would never want to deal with the large quantities used in a run or coop. Rant over. If you search here you will find as many stories damning sand as you will those lauding it. It's your choice, but I strongly advise against it

The key IMO is to provide a environment that will break down the poops, a varied mix if dry plant materials that will provide carbon 'absorb' the high nitrogen poop and provide shelter for a plethora of micro and macro organisms to create basically a cold compost situation. The birds will keep things stirred up and enjoy eating the large bugs that will reside there.

Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

ETA: Welcome to BYC @memrymaker ! Search out your state chat thread here at BYC, can a a great resource for local references.

aart said:

Also make sure any significant run off from roofs, hardscaping, surrounding area, etc is routed away from run area using swales, trenches, gutters, etc.

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Also, make sure the drainage in the run itself is away from your house, as you said the run is attached. If you can use the rainwater for the birds, setting up a rainwater tank could also be an option for dealing with runoff in the area.

Thanks to everyone for the advice! I have posted this problem in the WA thread also, but any ideas are helpful.

We are out in the country and have a very large yard. I've found a high spot for both the garden and coop. We will be constructing a very large run that matches the garden depth (est 36'd x 15w') and that will house the smaller coop and be the "main yard" for our chickens. We will make sure it has a large roof and good overhang for rainy days. Rainwater will run downhill so the chicken yard will not be soaked all the time.

I will look into the link for creating a run that mimics their natural habitat. If they have sticks and pine needles to walk on, that would be helpful. I didn't even think of that (and we have a TON of both of those on our property)!! Awesome thought.

Little project today on the chicken run. Yes, it was approved by the boss lady.

We apparently have quite the affinity for hanging baskets 'round here. I believe that we are up to 20 or so. All the others have drip irrigation. Matter of fact, most everything planted on the entire property has drip of one type or another. Makes watering a super simple process. Today's project was to add drip to the baskets and window box on the chicken run.

I like to start with the last basket on the run and work back towards the coop where I will bring the water in for the system. The system uses 1/4" lines and 1 gph drippers for all the hanging baskets. I've discovered over the years that all baskets are not created equal so each basket, box or whatever gets it's own shut off valve so I can pick and choose which ones get water.

Here's the basic setup.



Each basket after the farthest one gets a tee. The lines are zip tied to the brackets that the baskets are hanging on. The lines are attached to the wood part of the run with 1/4" tubing clips.





Got a little creative with running the line to the basket hanging from the corbel on the coop.





Rather than drippers I ran 1/4" soaker hose into the window box.





Ran the 1/4" tubing under the mulch in the pathway and connected to the 1/2" tubing that came in the kit and rean the 1/2" out to the valves that I use to irrigate the garden.









The completed system is almost invisible once you get a few steps away and it makes life so much easier than watering all these baskets by hand.

TerryH said:

Little project today on the chicken run. Yes, it was approved by the boss lady.

We apparently have quite the affinity for hanging baskets 'round here. I believe that we are up to 20 or so. All the others have drip irrigation. Matter of fact, most everything planted on the entire property has drip of one type or another. Makes watering a super simple process. Today's project was to add drip to the baskets and window box on the chicken run.

I like to start with the last basket on the run and work back towards the coop where I will bring the water in for the system. The system uses 1/4" lines and 1 gph drippers for all the hanging baskets. I've discovered over the years that all baskets are not created equal so each basket, box or whatever gets it's own shut off valve so I can pick and choose which ones get water.

Here's the basic setup.



Each basket after the farthest one gets a tee. The lines are zip tied to the brackets that the baskets are hanging on. The lines are attached to the wood part of the run with 1/4" tubing clips.





Got a little creative with running the line to the basket hanging from the corbel on the coop.

Rather than drippers I ran 1/4" soaker hose into the window box.





Ran the 1/4" tubing under the mulch in the pathway and connected to the 1/2" tubing that came in the kit and rean the 1/2" out to the valves that I use to irrigate the garden.









The completed system is almost invisible once you get a few steps away and it makes life so much easier than watering all these baskets by hand.

Click to expand...

looks great and I bet it saves a lot of work... do you have to drain in the winter down there?
I have soaker hoses in the garden.. and a stack of parts for a drip system...but worried it would break in the winter if I forgot LOL... parts were free though

Molpet said:

looks great and I bet it saves a lot of work... do you have to drain in the winter down there? 
I have soaker hoses in the garden.. and a stack of parts for a drip system...but worried it would break in the winter if I forgot LOL... parts were free though

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Thanks. It saves a ton of time. You should drain it in winter but I usually don't. I normally just unscrew the hose connections and call it good. Haven't had any issues with anything breaking. It gets plenty cold enough here. Usually some nights around zero and many days below freezing.

TerryH said:

Thanks. It saves a ton of time. You should drain it in winter but I usually don't. I normally just unscrew the hose connections and call it good. Haven't had any issues with anything breaking. It gets plenty cold enough here. Usually some nights around zero and many days below freezing.

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That looks great! I'll have to consider doing the same for the large garden that will be alongside the coop! Thanks for the close up shots.

memrymaker said:

That looks great!  I'll have to consider doing the same for the large garden that will be alongside the coop!  Thanks for the close up shots.  

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Thanks! Home Depot has assorted kits that are quite cost effective. Their Dig brand kits start under $20 and they have a nice assortment of individual parts and pieces to customize the system to whatever you need. We use fabric soaker hoses from Harbor Freight in the larger garden beds and the stuff from HD for everything else.