Help . . . Flooded coop??

[Farmgirl217]

Hi all!

Recently we have had an outrageous amount of rain - WAY more than we normally have. It has been non-stop and will continue off and on for the rest of the week. We have our coop at the bottom of a hill and our coop has gotten extremely flooded. It has gotten flooded before and I have taken it out by hand with a large cup (I have gotten GALLONS this way!?!). But it usually dries out.

Now there is standing water in the floor of the coop is say about 3 inches +. If greatly varies in different parts of the coop. (It's not just our coop, our yard also has standing puddles and pools of water). I'm trying to figure out how to drain the coop and get the water out? It is built in to 2x4's in the ground - so it's difficult to just dig a trench? Do any of you have either quick or long term solutions?? I do use pine shavings in the floor of the coop and last week got out ALL the old stuff.

Thanks so much!

 

[azygous]

Do you have electricity out to the coop? Or an extension cord that would reach it? A sump pump would be the solution - pump the water out. Then you need to figure out how the water is managing to get into the coop and fix it by trenching around the structure to divert runoff. Or maybe you need to patch the roof, too.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi all!

Recently we have had an outrageous amount of rain - WAY more than we normally have. It has been non-stop and will continue off and on for the rest of the week. We have our coop at the bottom of a hill and our coop has gotten extremely flooded. It has gotten flooded before and I have taken it out by hand with a large cup (I have gotten GALLONS this way!?!). But it usually dries out.

Now there is standing water in the floor of the coop is say about 3 inches +. If greatly varies in different parts of the coop. (It's not just our coop, our yard also has standing puddles and pools of water). I'm trying to figure out how to drain the coop and get the water out? It is built in to 2x4's in the ground - so it's difficult to just dig a trench? Do any of you have either quick or long term solutions?? I do use pine shavings in the floor of the coop and last week got out ALL the old stuff.

Thanks so much!

Where are you located (general state/area)
Can you post some photos?
Is it the coop (the chicken house) itself that is flooded or just the run?

Long term fix would be either to move the coop to a different area or raise it.

Short term fix....not sure without seeing it. A trench may be in order to get water moving away. Wet flooring and bedding, I would be concerned about mold and mildew, this can cause respiratory problems. Your chickens also need somewhere they can get to that is somewhat dry for foot health. Can you get some pallets to put in the run for them go get up out of the mud and water? Is your run covered - if it is, a couple of straw bales on top of the pallets would give them a dry place. You will still want to monitor the bottom of the straw bales for mold. (this may work inside too)

I do understand about all the rain, I think a lot of us are at least tired of it. My field has standing water and both my creeks overflow everyday. More rain all this coming week. Yesterday, I don't know how much came down, it rained most of the day, but it was just nonstop heavy last night. Just a mess.

 

[azygous]

I think I might be envious of all the rain and even flooding. Where I am, it's been severe drought all winter and barely an occasional dampening all during spring.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

A bilge pump will make removing water easier than scooping it out with a cup. I use this when I'm kayaking.

Future plans...what about putting entire coop up on pylons?

 

[Jaguar61]

Sounds like part of the problem is coop location...bottom of hill. Not knowing construction of coop, I'll just suggest. If coop has flooring, raise structure. Mine is set on a foundation of railroad ties. That buys us an extra 8". Our's has a solid floor. Short term to long term, drainage trench from lowest corner of chicken yard. Sand bags along base of coop facing hill for temporary assist.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think I might be envious of all the rain and even flooding. Where I am, it's been severe drought all winter and barely an occasional dampening all during spring.

Would love to send some your way! It's coming down now...will make it cooler, but still...

A bilge pump will make removing water easier than scooping it out with a cup. I use this when I'm kayaking.
View attachment 1406733
Future plans...what about putting entire coop up on pylons?

Good idea!

 

[True Patriot]

I would say that moving the coop higher would be the best option. If that's not possible, maybe building a diversion dike on the uphill side to prevent water from flowing through would help. Is there somewhere for the water to go? You said the whole yard is flooded. You may need to drain the yard to lower ground before anything can be done about the coop. If you can post pics of the problem I'm sure there are more people willing to help. Best of luck.

 

[aart]

will make it cooler,

..or just more humid, if possible

 

[Wyorp Rock]

..or just more humid, if possible

Yes, it can make it more humid (we are humid anyway). With the current weather pattern we are in, it's cooler. Upper 60's to lower 70s are the highs forecasted this week. A couple of days ago it was around 87F, heavy rain came and it dropped to 66F in about 45minutes

It will eventually turn off hot, muggy and miserable. Then late fall we will probably have to worry about forest fires.