Chicken coop on an old septic leach field

[Valsblondies]

Hi all,

I'm new here. We are picking up our 4x8 coop tomorrow and trying to determine the best location for it. The most convenient, level ground (we live in the woods on a hill) for the coop and run is on our old, unused leach field. The new septic system was put in last year on the opposite side of the house. The ground does not get soggy and grows grass.

I'm not concerned about damage to the septic since it is obsolete, but rather the health of the chickens and humans who eat the eggs.

I've tried to research how long it takes to restore the earth in an old leach field but haven't had much luck.

Any opinions from the experts here?

Thanks!

 

[4 the Birds]

You are good to go!

 

[scientistfarmer]

Hey there,

When you are speaking about your leach field I am assuming that you did not decommission the old septic, you just left it there and created a new one right ?

I will make the assumption that you have a low water table and you would have to have soil with a relatively high hydraulic conductivity associated with your septic as you stated that it is level ground which means you don't have a cascading system. With this said it is safe to say that you will have drainage going down and following the contours of your land. In my area, septic trench lines can be a as shallow as 0.25m below ground surface, I don't know what yours is, but I'm assuming it would be the 0.25 m or greater. The system itself drains into the Vadose zone which has to be minimum 0.90 m above the groundwater table (this included shallow sand lenses), because of this area you have some retention but it will not leak upwards, if anything it would be stored in the ground and have resistance due to gravity and the negative charge of the soil, especially because it is not being used anymore.

In short you are fine. don't worry

 

[Valsblondies]

1. 
   Wow scientist farmer you had my head spinning until the "in short..."! So what you are saying is that any pathogens of concern would likely have drained rather than risen up to the ground level?

 

[scientistfarmer]

yes. The microbes in the soil make short work of them, same with the difficulty they would have moving upwards.

You should be just fine !