Got myself in a predicament...

[chickenmomma16]

Nice to have neighbors with access to heavy machinery He’s digging a trench along our property lines to hopefully control some of the water. At least the creek bank won’t flow through our pasture as easily that’s what floods the chicken coop. Then he said he can replace our much too small culverts. We’ve waged war with this creek

And my run looks a little better now that it’s recovered and drying out.

 

[Henry&Friends]

Nice to have neighbors with access to heavy machinery He’s digging a trench along our property lines to hopefully control some of the water. At least the creek bank won’t flow through our pasture as easily that’s what floods the chicken coop. Then he said he can replace our much too small culverts. We’ve waged war with this creek
View attachment 2036219
And my run looks a little better now that it’s recovered and drying out.
View attachment 2036224

If I were you, I’d try to use one of these tools to really get a good, loose mixing through the wood chips. It might help to drain more of the poop sludge out of the chips next time. Looking a whole lot better though!

 

[chickenmomma16]

If I were you, I’d try to use one of these tools View attachment 2036250 to really get a good, loose mixing through the wood chips. It might help to drain more of the poop sludge out of the chips next time. Looking a whole lot better though!

Good idea! If you look through the photos in my previous posts, the run was completely flooded and I went out with a rake in 6 inches of water and loosened all the chips. It seemed to do the trick for now. But if it packs down again but not flooded, I’ll remember that tool!

 

[Henry&Friends]

Good idea! If you look through the photos in my previous posts, the run was completely flooded and I went out with a rake in 6 inches of water and loosened all the chips. It seemed to do the trick for now. But if it packs down again but not flooded, I’ll remember that tool!

ive just read through the thread, and I saw you used a rake. I have a flimsy plastic rake that I use to clean out the straw in my coop, and its painstakingly slow and a lot of effort. I can’t imagine using a rake on heavy, wet, sludgy woodchips if there’s anything to make it easier next time, which There hopefully isn‘t a next time, I’m gonna try to let you know.

 

[chickenmomma16]

ive just read through the thread, and I saw you used a rake. I have a flimsy plastic rake that I use to clean out the straw in my coop, and its painstakingly slow and a lot of effort. I can’t imagine using a rake on heavy, wet, sludgy woodchips if there’s anything to make it easier next time, which There hopefully isn‘t a next time, I’m gonna try to let you know.

Oh! I used a metal garden rake! Not those plastic leaf rakes Or horse stall rakes. It seemed to get down to the dirt pretty easily. It was definitely an interesting experience swooshing the chips around. There was so much water it broke up surprisingly easy And the chips mostly floated once free of their poopy cement. Hopefully I’ll never have to deal with that again!

 

[Henry&Friends]

And the chips mostly floated once free of their poopy cement.

I don’t even have to be there to know the exact sound made when sloshing around in there with the rake... when you broke the barrier, did you release the smells? Been there & had to walk away gagging it was like a time capsule full of stench

 

[chickenmomma16]

I don’t even have to be there to know the exact sound made when sloshing around in there with the rake... when you broke the barrier, did you release the smells? Been there & had to walk away gagging it was like a time capsule full of stench

The smell wasn’t too bad. I think it helped that it was flowing water vs stagnant water. There was definitely a suction sound when I broke that top layer.

 

[Henry&Friends]

The smell wasn’t too bad. I think it helped that it was flowing water vs stagnant water. There was definitely a suction sound when I broke that top layer.

The suction schlllick (sometimes there’s a pop after too)

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hope the trench helps. The run looks much better without several inches of water in it!

 

[Beaglegal]

Haha! No apologies necessary! I seriously thought about ducks... but I love my Ameraucanas too much and I’m quite invested in them. Yeah, you should have seen this place after 13 inches of snow that fast melted and a rain storm on top of it. The run was literally completely flooded and the birds stayed inside the coop for days until the water subsided. Luckily as soon as the rain stops the water retreats quickly.

So I guess I’m SOL then.

I’ll try to strip off the tarp with the next big rain and see if the poop gets washed away at least It seems to be cleaner on the edges where the water hits. I plan on getting arborist chips next year for a raised garden area close by the coop and I’ll address possibly adding more chips around/in the run area. I just need this to last me a few more years!

Ducks would love that situation... in heaven... just sayin...