Got myself in a predicament...

[azygous]

You could probably solve this problem by installing 3/4in gravel six inches deep and your choice of bedding on top. It would both raise and drain the run. Those chickens are wishing they were ducks.

 

[aart]

It’s puddling but isn’t getting any worse then this

Is there any lower ground nearby...start digging a trench towards to drain the puddle off?
Not sure what wood pellets would do.

 

[twendt]

OMG!! SAND,SAND,SAND!!! REALLY, it keeps my girls run dry. Everything drains though, I put 4 inches of sand in my hen's run, there is NO STANDING WATER!! I have snow and rain to deal with, I chose sand to put into their run. It's been a good decision! I do put a plastic barrier around the run before the snow starts!!

 

[azygous]

I agree with @twendt that sand is a great bedding. I use construction sand which is medium coarse. Recently my chickens managed to trigger the nipples on their water tank and five gallons ran out over the run. All I saw was a damp spot since all the water drained down through the sand and then percolated down through the clay subsoil.

However, unless you raise the floor of the run by increasing the depth of the bedding, you'll continue to have standing water because of your water table being at the surface. Water seeks its own level, and the only way to "fool" it is to raise the run floor above the water table level.

I looked up your soil type and if it's correct what I read, you have clay loam which should percolate well as the water table goes down after the rainy season ends. With all that space around your run, you could probably get a dump truck to back right up to the run and dump a load of construction sand right where you need it and all you'd need to do is rake it to level it.

 

[chickenmomma16]

You could probably solve this problem by installing 3/4in gravel six inches deep and your choice of bedding on top. It would both raise and drain the run. Those chickens are wishing they were ducks.

Right?!?! Maybe I should make some flippers for them?

That’s a thought. Might look into completely redoing the material in the run for a summer project.

OMG!! SAND,SAND,SAND!!! REALLY, it keeps my girls run dry. Everything drains though, I put 4 inches of sand in my hen's run, there is NO STANDING WATER!! I have snow and rain to deal with, I chose sand to put into their run. It's been a good decision! I do put a plastic barrier around the run before the snow starts!!

Thats another idea. I worry it would get washed away with the once a year flooding we get. It literally floods the entire run.

I agree with @twendt that sand is a great bedding. I use construction sand which is medium coarse. Recently my chickens managed to trigger the nipples on their water tank and five gallons ran out over the run. All I saw was a damp spot since all the water drained down through the sand and then percolated down through the clay subsoil.

However, unless you raise the floor of the run by increasing the depth of the bedding, you'll continue to have standing water because of your water table being at the surface. Water seeks its own level, and the only way to "fool" it is to raise the run floor above the water table level.

I looked up your soil type and if it's correct what I read, you have clay loam which should percolate well as the water table goes down after the rainy season ends. With all that space around your run, you could probably get a dump truck to back right up to the run and dump a load of construction sand right where you need it and all you'd need to do is rake it to level it.

Yes, our soil drains really fast once the rain stops. I never had standing water in the run with the chips before though. The chips seemed to allow water to pass through. Only this year I had a population growth and the poop just sat on top and has created a layer on top that’s causing the muckiness. As my previous reply said, I’m worried the sand will get washed away with the flooding. I actually had chips around the outside door and along one side of the run but when we get lots of flooding here it’s not just standing water, it FLOWS. It took all my chips that were outside the run last year. Washed them away!

 

[aart]

I agree with @twendt that sand is a great bedding.

@azygous it would be good to always add that you live in an arid climate and that most your coop/run is covered .......makes a huge difference in sand 'drying' out.

 

[azygous]

@azygous it would be good to always add that you live in an arid climate and that most your coop/run is covered .......makes a huge difference in sand 'drying' out.

Right. However, in this case, some soggy sand would be much preferable to standing water, and coarse sand drains and dries out pretty quickly.

 

[NatJ]

Can you add another board around the base of the run? You could then pile the bedding deeper, so the surface can be above the water level.

Do you have any roosts in the run? That would give the chickens a way to get out of the mud and let their feet dry, without having to go into the coop. (In my experience, chickens are quite happy to sit on any available raised surface, but they're not about to go inside unless they have to!)

 

[azygous]

I mentioned earlier that your run is situated on a prior lake bed. During the rainy season, you experience the effect of the vestigial watershed draining into the lake and subsequent stream flow. Water is boss of everything. It's a tough adversary. It's very hard to talk it out of doing what it is determined to do.

You have few options. My earlier flippant recommendation to move the run is one. Raising the run bed is another, and diverting the water flow is yet one more. Water makes every option as difficult as humanly possible.

Concede that during rainy season the run will be very wet, no matter what you do. The objective is to try to prevent standing water and flowing water, especially water flow that washes all your bedding away.

In addition to the gravel and sand to raise the run up higher than the standing water (water table), old fashioned sand bags placed on the upstream side of the run could divert the flow around the run, preventing the washout. It would keep the chickens' feet out of the water. They can handle the damp sand.

Wet chicken poop is disgusting, though. But if you keep it scooped, which is easy with sand, all you'd have would be wet sand, not wet smelly sand.

 

[aart]

However, in this case, some soggy sand would be much preferable to standing water, and coarse sand drains and dries out pretty quickly.

If there is nowhere for it to drain....you just have puddles filled with sand.