Help! Run issues!

[jetdog]

I wonder if I close off one side on the run with plywood or something similar and then make an over hang in other side? Gosh I just don't know. I agree petrel that the deep litter method would get as wet. What are thoughts on making the run larger so it's not so thin?

You could buy a piece of that bamboo screening from home depot, cut it to fit into place on the back side of the run, it will help block the rain from coming in but still lets the air flow through.

 

[themkleclair]

Thanks for all the great responses. This weekend I'm going to move the run over to allow the old sand to dry-out. Then I'll put some gravel down and layer with sand. As jet dog mentioned ill cover the back sides with bamboo screening and try to build some sort of awening off the front. Any awning suggestions ? I know a tarp would be easiest, but any other ideas that are a little more aesthetically pleasing?

 

[jetdog]

Thanks for all the great responses. This weekend I'm going to move the run over to allow the old sand to dry-out. Then I'll put some gravel down and layer with sand. As jet dog mentioned ill cover the back sides with bamboo screening and try to build some sort of awening off the front. Any awning suggestions ? I know a tarp would be easiest, but any other ideas that are a little more aesthetically pleasing?

I was thinking about your predicament and what if you put a couple of gutters on the roof line and had the downspouts going away from the run, seems like it would be a simple enough solution and you can let the sand dry out as your chickens scratch around in it. I think it would be a shame to get rid of that beautiful sand.

 

[RonP]

I posted this on another query:

My run is 14'x14'. I started my run with a minimum of 10 inches of free wood chips supplied by a local tree service. Five years later, my run is 8 to 20 inches high of compost - the top 5 or 6 inches being fresh wood chips and leaf litter. I have never cleaned the run. No odors, no mud, no bugs. Water drains well from the "hill". The level seems to remain constant, fine compost also disappears out of the coop's 1/2 inch screen as the chickens kick it out.