Drain flies(?)

[Crazychickengirl2]

 

[Crazychickengirl2]

So, not quite a run, but in my dirt-floor coop (conversion from a 3-side shed to a full coop), my solution was to just raise the ground. Water seeks the lowest area and if your run is higher than the surrounding area, the water will head to the surrounding area and the run will quickly dry off after the rain stops. Additional mitigation can be done by covering part/all of it. Then beyond that, just keep adding woodchips into the run. The chickens will move them around as needed, they will help absorb moisture/stink and eventually break down into more dirt, which can be shaped to have the high points inside the run.

What do you think the cheapest option is?

 

[3KillerBs]

OK, I'm not sure exactly, because a photo is never quite like real life, but it looks to me like you've got a runoff channel where I've marked in red. That is, a place where, when it rains, water runs across the ground.

Also, it looks like you have either a seep or a low spot that collects water at the bottom edge of the photo maybe?

What I marked in yellow along the back is a place to dig a diversion ditch to direct ground water away from the run -- interrupting the channel (if the channel is actually there and not just a figment of imagination in the photo).

Then, at the bottom, you can dig another ditch to lead water further downhill.

You could make these ditches wide and gentle as grass swales, you could make them narrower and fill them with gravel or you could install actual French drain.

Additionally, if you put coarse wood chips into your run, which seems to have no litter at all right now, you can both absorb extra water and build up the level of the ground over time. Don't try to put in too much at once, just a few inches now then a few inches after a couple weeks, etc.

People can often get wood chips for free from a tree-trimming service if you have a place where they can dump an entire truckload. Some towns offer free wood chips from wherever their municipal trimming trucks dump their chips.

Alternately, you can buy PLAIN, undyed, coarse mulch.