Coop Drainage- a data table of mine showing why it's not good to have matted bedding

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Hello there, I've been working on this science experiment. I searched EVERYWHERE for some info on coop drainage, but no luck. Except some from Plamondon.

I would like to show you my data table of drainage rates. The pens are like runs, so rainfall can come in from the south. This shows you how long it takes for 180mL of water to drain through these different kinds of soil. The only pen that gets matted is the one that took 9 minutes to actually drain 180mL of water. Now that's no good because it can cause disease and pooling water mean worms or coccidia. But while testing, I messed up some of the matted soil and it crumbled. Now, if you crumble up the soil, look at the drainage rate. Isn't that amazing? The table got messed up some through the pasting. Enjoy~

​

Location of soil

Time for complete drainage
(minutes : seconds) ​

Trial one Trial two Trial three


Mean drainage time
(minutes:seconds)

Recently tilled bare soil

00:21

00:28

00:27

00:25
Grass and clover field- shaded

01:22

01:30

01:16

01:22
Chicken pen- high density-matted ground- 8 birds/5’X10’ pen

09:32

09:08

n/a

09:20
Matted soil crumbled during testing from high density pen

00:03

00:03

n/a

00:03
Low-density pen w/ pine shavings+ droppings- 3 birds/10’x10’ pen

00:15

00:24

00:20

00:20
Chicken yard around feeder- vacant 6 months

06:03

n/a

06:32

06:18


By the way: If you are interested in doing this experiment for your coop, I'll give the whole sheet of how I worked it.

ADDED: 3 trials were taken on most, but soon I ran out of the matted places because I messed up the soil too many times. I also estimated that it would take this/that long.

 

[Mingming]

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing! What does high /low density refer to?

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

It means there is a lot of particles packed into a space, (for this experiment) example would be the matting. Low density is not packed, but loose.

Good question.

 

[Daisy8s]

Can you explain more about the high density pen? I'm guessing that high density refers to the bedding? What substance(s) were you using for the bedding? What time frame are we talking about for use of this bedding? What thickness was it?

Interesting experiment....

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

The high density pen includes the matted mess, which, yes, refers to the bedding.

It's and 8 year old pen, and its about a foot deep of matted soil, you can see where there was just dirt (a couple inches down), then fresh shavings(at the bottom), then hay (7 inches down, which made it tough like adobe and made the soil pack together and harden at the top, affecting the permeability of the soil)

I have been fluffing the soil then throwing pine shavings in the pen, but the chickens always stand right next to the door, so it gets matted.

 

[Chickielady]

very interesting !
I do have a mess of shavings at the coop doors from birds coming & going.
I have to scrape up the mess of soggy shavings or they stay squishy soggy for weeks after a rain !
I have tilled in sand, pea gravel & oyster shell which has greatly helped "loosen" the soil and increase drainage.
Thanks for sharing !

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

I had some hay that got wet in the rain, put it in the coop, it got wet and muddy, turned into adobe, and it matted. Oops!

 

[Chickielady]

Last week long monsoon we had here, I fired up the well pump, attached to a garden hose w/spray nozzell...and blasted the pea gravel/oyster shell runs I have.
This "washed" tehe gravel free of the adobe/poo/shavings and it all washed down the hill.
This left the gravel clean...as a river would do.
Worked great, if not muddy fun on a rainy day.
I used to use straw in the runs, as our soil is nasty dense & snot slippery CLAY.
Standing still, you can actually slide down hill even on a slight slope.
It was dangerous walking !!
Straw just soaks water & stays snotty/poopy(stinky & heavy !!!) & has to be removed via pitchfork/wheel barrel...............so I use pea gravel now & free oyster shell we get here on the coast.

 

[Chickielady]

JerseyGiantFolk...you in my part of the NorthWest with constant rain & this slippery dense clay soil ?
Just wondering....

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

I live in California, but we haven't had much rain this year. The soil varies in many locations in my yard, either: rocky, soft, light, harder than concrete, clay like material. Very hard to plant stuff in certain places!