Is there any hope for me raising spring meat birds in a yard that often floods?

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Hey all. So I raised my first Cornish X last fall and it went well, as some of you may have seen from the thread I had going. Well now our chicken supply in the freezer is dwindling and I am dreading having to buy grocery store chicken now that I'm spoiled with home grown meat.

Only problem is, it rains a lot in the spring and my backyard has some serious drainage issues (that's something they don't tell you in the house listing before you buy!!!). Here is a picture of my backyard two days ago after a full day of steady rain.

Luckily, it drains pretty quickly. Even the next morning just 2 large puddles remained. But this experience had me thinking: does this make raising meat birds in the chicken tractor impossible?

My only thought of hope was that back corner near the fenced-in garden bed. That ground is higher than the rest (used to be another garden bed) and I have never seen it get swampy. Do you guys think that every time we get a good rain I could move the tractor there? I fear it would get pretty poopy though if I do it more than 2-3 times. Could I put bedding or leaves over the ground they already pooped on and put the tractor over it? Should I somehow try to just raise them stationary from the start? Or is this just a bad idea altogether?

 

[IvysAnimals]

Because chickens aren't waterfowl, water can be a big problem. You can add extra soil to make an even/slightly elevated surface so the water doesn't pool very much. You can also have their hutch raised off of the ground so they won't get stuck in the water, or you can have a chicken coop and keep them inside when it rains so they don't get wet... A wet chicken can lead to many problems.

 

[Mary Weber]

I also have a drainage issue in my yard, I keep the chickens in a coop with a play yard attached. We placed a leantoo style roof over the run so that their play area stays fairly dry and they can go out if they want too. I am going to try meat chickens this spring and can use any info that may help.

 

[FunClucks]

Oh no! No way would I raise them where they might be in that kind of water.

I'm on my first batch of meat birds, so there is that, but I've had chickens for about a year now, and had to manage some much milder flooding than you have.

I couldn't tractor mine due to my land being all types of elevations (it wasn't flat enough). My answer was a stationary 10'x15' open air covered coop/run combo (for 23 meat birds). I live in north alabama, and have used this type of setup successfully for my eggers for a year, so I thought I'd try it, and it's working well so far. I put down 6"+ of wood chips for the floor of the run, and cover the top and wind-facing side with a tarp/plastic to cut down on wind and prevent rain entry. A hoop coop would work well, although I'm using 10'x6' tall chain link dog run panels covered with 1\2" hardware cloth (with a 3 ft apron). I station the food and water on opposite sides of the run so they have to walk back and forth. I wish they got more exercise, but I'm out there a fair bit to get them to move about.

The deep litter allows me to stir the mulch to compost the poop. I do it every few days. My wood chips are a mix of old and new, so it's kind of like they're on a forest floor - there's a lot of microbes to help deal with the poop. They sleep on the floor, and the water drains around the coop. If there was a water issue, I'd add more wood chips, or possibly pallets to keep them up more from the wet ground. Since I'm raising CX, they're only out there for 4-6 weeks, so the poop is manageable.

In your case, a stationary coop where your raised garden bed is, with 6-12" of wood chip bedding/litter, protected from rain, seems like the best answer. If there's any way to dig a ditch and drain your property, that would be highly recommended. Have you considered digging a pond? That way, the water could all drain into something, and it could keep the surrounding area less saturated, if you dig the pond deep enough. Or maybe consider creating a culvert on one side of your property - if the water's going to sit on your property, at least it can sit and absorb somewhere that doesn't inconvenience you so much.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Oh no! No way would I raise them where they might be in that kind of water.

I'm on my first batch of meat birds, so there is that, but I've had chickens for about a year now, and had to manage some much milder flooding than you have.

I couldn't tractor mine due to my land being all types of elevations (it wasn't flat enough). My answer was a stationary 10'x15' open air covered coop/run combo (for 23 meat birds). I live in north alabama, and have used this type of setup successfully for my eggers for a year, so I thought I'd try it, and it's working well so far. I put down 6"+ of wood chips for the floor of the run, and cover the top and wind-facing side with a tarp/plastic to cut down on wind and prevent rain entry. A hoop coop would work well, although I'm using 10'x6' tall chain link dog run panels covered with 1\2" hardware cloth (with a 3 ft apron). I station the food and water on opposite sides of the run so they have to walk back and forth. I wish they got more exercise, but I'm out there a fair bit to get them to move about.

The deep litter allows me to stir the mulch to compost the poop. I do it every few days. My wood chips are a mix of old and new, so it's kind of like they're on a forest floor - there's a lot of microbes to help deal with the poop. They sleep on the floor, and the water drains around the coop. If there was a water issue, I'd add more wood chips, or possibly pallets to keep them up more from the wet ground. Since I'm raising CX, they're only out there for 4-6 weeks, so the poop is manageable.

In your case, a stationary coop where your raised garden bed is, with 6-12" of wood chip bedding/litter, protected from rain, seems like the best answer. If there's any way to dig a ditch and drain your property, that would be highly recommended. Have you considered digging a pond? That way, the water could all drain into something, and it could keep the surrounding area less saturated, if you dig the pond deep enough. Or maybe consider creating a culvert on one side of your property - if the water's going to sit on your property, at least it can sit and absorb somewhere that doesn't inconvenience you so much.

Thanks! Yeah, maybe this will be a little more work than I thought. We were going to look into solutions for drainage this year, but probably not in time to get the meaties since they don't do well in the heat. I really like your ideas though. If we can find a way to direct the water to one place, it might be best. I was thinking about getting drain pipes but that might be very expensive/labor intensive.

 

[FunClucks]

Thanks! Yeah, maybe this will be a little more work than I thought. We were going to look into solutions for drainage this year, but probably not in time to get the meaties since they don't do well in the heat. I really like your ideas though. If we can find a way to direct the water to one place, it might be best. I was thinking about getting drain pipes but that might be very expensive/labor intensive.

Unless you have somewhere it can drain into, pipes are of limited use - the water would just sit in them and create a nasty smelly mess. That's why I didn't recommend french drains - cause you have no obvious low point (that I can see anyway). I think you'll have to make a low point. Here's a thought - dig a culvert at the edge of a property, and put the dirt you remove on top of the ground where you're planning to build your stationary chicken run. Build up part of the land to make it higher so it will drain better. You could also build up the land wherever you really don't want the water (patio, etc)

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Unless you have somewhere it can drain into, pipes are of limited use - the water would just sit in them and create a nasty smelly mess. That's why I didn't recommend french drains - cause you have no obvious low point (that I can see anyway). I think you'll have to make a low point. Here's a thought - dig a culvert at the edge of a property, and put the dirt you remove on top of the ground where you're planning to build your stationary chicken run. Build up part of the land to make it higher so it will drain better. You could also build up the land wherever you really don't want the water (patio, etc)

Thank you!!! Yeah I think that will be what we have to do. Really good idea.

 

[imacowgirl2]

Unless you have somewhere it can drain into, pipes are of limited use - the water would just sit in them and create a nasty smelly mess. That's why I didn't recommend french drains - cause you have no obvious low point (that I can see anyway). I think you'll have to make a low point. Here's a thought - dig a culvert at the edge of a property, and put the dirt you remove on top of the ground where you're planning to build your stationary chicken run. Build up part of the land to make it higher so it will drain better. You could also build up the land wherever you really don't want the water (patio, etc)

This is probably what I would do too! Dig out an area and use the dirt from that area to build up the high spot. Put a permanent hoop coop/run in that spot, find a source of coarse woods chips (I get mine free from the electric company when they trim trees) and put 6-8” of those in the coop/run area after you build it to build it up even more. Woods chips do a great job of managing mud and composting poop…and give you great compost for any garden beds you might have.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Agree that as-is this is dicey. I think the best solution is to get a sizable amount clean soil brought in and grade it so that the water drains away from both your home and the chicken area. It's not a small amount of work for sure, but it's really the only way to solve a problem that big. at the bottom of the slant I like the idea of a deep layer of wood chips to help soak up the excess water. But wow, that's a LOT of water...you may want a pond and some ducks (yes, I'm a poultry math enabler).

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Agree that as-is this is dicey. I think the best solution is to get a sizable amount clean soil brought in and grade it so that the water drains away from both your home and the chicken area. It's not a small amount of work for sure, but it's really the only way to solve a problem that big. at the bottom of the slant I like the idea of a deep layer of wood chips to help soak up the excess water. But wow, that's a LOT of water...you may want a pond and some ducks (yes, I'm a poultry math enabler).

Yeah unfortunately we moved in with no way of knowing our property had this issue. In talking to the neighbors who have lived there for 20+ years, they said our property's yard has been flooding like this as long as they can remember. So it's not something that will just go away. We're looking into solutions so I'm grateful for all the suggestions I've gotten so far. I don't think I will do spring meat birds. What a bummer

And don't worry about being a chicken math enabler! I think we all are here lol. I sent a picture of my yard to my dad and the first thing he said was "you might want ducks instead of chickens" haha. Unfortunately after looking into duck care, I've decided against them because their poop is watery and hard to clean up, and they don't always lay eggs in the nest.