How to "fix" a swamp??

[ChocolateMouse]

Aart, I understand your concern. And if the OP has that concern they can let them age for a few months of course. But free is often the only way someone can afford to cover a pen. Cheapest rate around here for aged wood chips is $10/yard, if you're lucky, and that only pops up on CL once or twice a year (plus delivery! Usually $40....). $20/yard is more common. No way I could afford the 14 yards of wood chips for my pen that way. Not for $3 worth of chicken eggs once or twice a week.
OP, it does sound like you might have space to store them for six months while they dry out, so it might not be a bad idea for you.
I suggest finding out what company trims the trees for your city/county/township. That's what I did! They have places to dump but they have to drive back to them. If they're already working in your area, they're very likely to drive to your house to dump instead!
If you need to buy mulch make sure you're getting natural undyed mulch. The dyes are no bueno for livestock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

We are all unique in our set-ups and circumstances, what works for one may not work for another. There is often some trial and error in finding out what works for us.

The general problem is that when it is really wet the bacteria that breaks down the poop become the anaerobic ones. They can turn the stuff slimy and create a lot of ammonia which can really stink The same thing can happen to a compost pile. Damp is good but wet is bad for the aerobic bugs you want. Chicken density can be another factor. The more chickens in an area the thicker the poop which can make the problem worse.

In your situation I'd consider building up the run area with dirt so it is higher than the surrounding area so the water has some place to go. You don't want a bathtub so the water just stays underneath your bedding, you want the water to drain away. If you have a convenient low spot some type of French drain might help you. But then I'd put something on top of the dirt. I'd personally probably try sand since it drains so well but any of the others might be worth a try, especially if they are cheap or free.

Sometimes when the weather turns wet and stays there you are just going to have problems, that's just the way it is with larger runs especially. But the idea is to get it to drain as quickly as it will.

Good luck, these can be a pain to resolve.

 

[Rowena.chickens]

With the recent storms we have had, dumping large amounts of rain in a short time, our ground is a soaked sponge, and our runs look like swine pens. Not only mucky, but stinky, and the flys and gnats are everywhere.

Thinking about layering with a thick layer of sawdust to absorb moisture and stench. Moving the animals isn't possible, so we have to fix where they are.

Sugestions?!?

A quite good idea is barkchip on the lawn. Also, when you clean out the chickens use the hose on the run to get rid of the poops. Hope that helps

 

[aart]

Also, when you clean out the chickens use the hose on the run to get rid of the poops.

This is a situation with too much water already....don't think hosing anything down would help here, would only make it worse.

 

[MROO]

We had the same problem,and had read on byc to use pelletized horse bedding its pine pellets sold at tsc $6 for a 50 pd bag ,I raked the run and put the whole bag down it was terrific!!! The raw sewer smell was gone so quick and helps soak up puddles too. I want to give a shout out to whoever posted it thx so much ,we keep a bag on hand

Did you have to remove it afterwards or did it just compost into the soil?

 

[Hopperkiller]

We used sand for our milking parlor as kids to raise the floor 10 inches above the ground around the barn. It was easy to muck out this and the calf pens and kept liquids from puddling up. Only hard part was going to the Red River shore and getting the sand by hand.

My run and coop sit on blackland prairie soil which is a silty texture till it hardens like concrete. Very sticky and soaks up water quickly then wont support your weight when saturated. When the chickens killed the sod grass it was a mess. Being older now i ordered 5 yards of sand and used my tractor to raise the coop and run area by about 6 inches. The run gate wont open inward but now the rain soaks thru the sand and keeps the area cleaner and no sticky mud. The chickens are kept in the run all morning (coyote problem) and they constantly dig and stir the run. I thought they would kick a lot of the sand out through the chain link fence but this hasnt happened. The poop disappears when they dig new craters and i have no mud. This sand does have some clay because it it very hard where they dont dig. But building up the area has solved my sloppy run problem when it rains. Hay, straw, pine chips were useless in my area. They just made the mess bigger and provided cover for rodents and ratsnakes.
Used the same sand to fix the 1200 square foot dog pen. Had excellent results there also. I plan on reworking my cow shed and corral when this heat lets up and plan on hauling sand into that area as well. This black dirt is a mess when the rain eventually shows up.

 

[Hope Hughes]

I live in north florida and we have a sandy ground here when we first moved here we has so much ran it was a huge mid pit. So I would just dump the pine shavings from the coop into the runs and over time it has come out great. No mud pit, and it always rains here now. And the ducks live inside the run at night too. I also rake all the leaves and debris that is around our 40acres. Works amazing and jo more mud pit.

I will throw some scratch in the run every other day or every 3 days and they will work the old up and new down and keep everything mixing.

 

[getaclue]

Soil types vary, and the way they respond to water varies too. I live in Florida. Some areas have ideal conditions with a sand under layer, then fill dirt, then topsoil. These occur naturally. Other areas are not so fortunate, and lack the sand under layer, or have been used for farming, and the sand under layer has been mixed in with fill dirt. Our type of soil when dry, is fairly loose. When exposed to water for long periods, gets spongy, and mucky. It will look dry, until you step in it, and you realize it's just retaining the water.

My parents lived in Kentucky. Their soil was totally different from ours down here. Theirs was more of a clay type mixture. It would clump, and/or get hard when dry. When exposed to water, it didn't really absorb much of the water, but it would turn into a slippery muck. I suggested she have someone come in with a tractor, scoop off about 1.5 feet of the clay, put in some pea gravel 3-5 inches, mix the clay they scraped off with some fill dirt, making sure there was enough sand in it, then put it back over the pea gravel. Her yard was fine after that.

Back to the place we recently bought in Florida. I already described our soil type. Dh staked out where we were going to put the coop. As you can see, looking at the right side of the picture, it slopes downward, and there is a low area. I already knew that area would flood in a real heavy rain. There is a large drain pipe going to my neighbor's creek, so the excess water does not stand long. It still concerned me, knowing our soil absorbs water, and is spongy.

I insisted on at least 6 inches of good beach type, quartz sand, then fill dirt to elevate it. Dh just wanted to elevate it with fill dirt. There was a lot of arguing, but no bloodshed. I held fast, and got my sand.

We put fill dirt on top of the sand, and proceeded to finish building the coop, then covered it with sod.

Here's the finished product, after several months.

BUT WAIT.....This year we've had record rainfall. I can count on my left hand the number of days it has not rained in the past 3 months. Here's what it looks like after a hard rain.

My coop is high, and DRY! It's dry inside the coops, and the runs are not a spongy, mucky, muddy mess. An hour or two after it stops raining, the runs are dry too. Yes, it was costly for the sand, but I don't regret even 1 cent of what we spent on it. The way we did it was a fantastic, long-term solution.

Would this have worked the same way on my parents' property in Kentucky? I don't believe so. Would the solution that worked for them, have worked on my property? Nope.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I can get a trailer full of sawdust for $3. Pine shavings are $5 a bale. ;-)

Pine shavings are $14 here, just purchased 4 bales for my Chicken House set up. We had Hurricane Lane take his time passing with 3 days of pouring rain. CH on high ground but the ground got soaked & developed a "creek" on one side due to a neighbor's wall springing a leak & shot at the CH. Drained the "creek", removed all soppy wet shavings & adding more as I needed. Finally had a few days of SUN, kept shuffling the shavings in the CH & it's dried out.

Now we have Hurricane Miriam, Norman & Olivia in the area.

 

[perchie.girl]

Read the whole thread.... I can only agree raising the grade is the solution. Then consider wood chips or sawdust.... I use rice hulls but then they are available at my feed store.

Also consider carefully when getting saw dust. some woods especially those used in furniture making can be poisonous.... Certain Cedars... Not all are one of the offenders. I am talking about Aeromatic cedars like used in cedar closets or cedar chests...

Wood chips HEre can be obtained for free from the Landfill. Landscaper trimmings go into those chippers even small chunks of wood.... But be aware. Oleandar is extremely poisonous and if its grown in your area I would pass up the free stuff from the land fill.

Sand is awesome if you can get it for free like someone suggested. But I would do a multi sized crumbled rock for your base.... It packs down nicely and gives you a more solid foundation for topping with the surface of choice.

I live in Southernmost Sothern California... Sand is easy to get... My coops are on Decomposed granite... naturally drains water... But not if it has an organic layer on top.

Good luck finding a solution to your situation. Like someone said every region is different and you have to apply advice by picking and choosing what fits your needs.

IF it were me in this situation... Id put down pallets with scrap ply wood on top and top that with Bedding of choice.... just to give em something to walk about on. When the rains stop and everything begins to dry out Clear it out and work the ground itself. Lime and Sweet PDZ to clean up the odor and dry it out... Then mix in the stone materials...

deb