Iowa Flood/Mud Help

[Acre4Me]

Good Luck with all that mud! WOW! that is one wet run.

We have also had a very wet 9 months, and our raised beds were installed by previous owner in a low spot (who does that?) so they are surrounded by water or mud, and have been surrounded by water or mud for so long that it is turning into swamp land, including that swampy smell - but the plants in the raised beds are growing fine so far. The chicken run (near the raised beds) is slightly elevated, so only muddy in one corner section with very heavy rain in a short period of time.

For temporary fix, until it gets dried out, maybe try heavy cardboard (like from an appliance) laid on the ground. Any big box store should have some large boxes that can be cut down. Yes, it will not last forever, but it is surprising how resilient cardboard can be. Maybe lay it down, and plant to replace every so many days. Hopefully cardboard boxes aren't such a hot commodity. If you cant find any from big store someone on fb or CL might be getting rid of the large wardrobe boxes or large packing boxes from a move. You can buy the boxes too - but don't if you can find for free. Of course, many people indicate they are successful in finding random building materials on fb or CL, so you might com across some random cuts of plywood or OSB for the same purpose. Maybe a friend or neighbor has a few random pieces from some past project.

Good Luck!

 

[MROO]

Thanks everyone. Hoping we can make it through this...

Pallets are your friend! Stack three pallets - two on one side with another right beside it, like steps. If the slats are too far apart, cover them with a tarp or piece of plywood.
If you can't get pallets, build a low platform. The idea is to give them a "dryish" island in the middle of their lovely mud pond. You can do the same thing with the inside of their house - a small platform or overturned cat-litter box, anything to get them up out of the mud long enough for a nap.
I feel your pain ... and your waterlogged toes. We had the same issue last year here in Maryland. It only rained twice all summer. Once for 27 days and then again about two weeks later ... for 32 more. This year, we've already had three days above 90 degrees ... and it's still only May. UNCLE!

 

[Crow-ded house]

In OK having same issue. Rain grrrr!!! We put some bricks we had laying around some broken pallets tree stumps that wont burn anyway because too wet. Our coop is muddy also because they are so dirty right now. We also had bits of roofing tin from an old shed we put in there and lifted with some extra cinder blocks. We even put our lawn chairs in because we ibviously wont be using them for awhile lol!! But thankfully it has been dry last couple of days. Good luck and hope it dries out.

 

[BY Bob]

I’m having similar problems in so Indiana...have tried wood chips, straw sand , crushed brick,PDz, etc but nothing combats the flooding and associated stench! Just hve to figure out a way to get it dried out! Maybe a roof???? I just turned a fan toward mine to try and help.....have reduced my flock to 9 and maybe reduce even more if can’t get under control

I roofed my run a couple of years ago as well. Can you put a tarp over it temporarily? Old shower curtains work as well.

 

[Compost King]

Went through this in NC from August to March... Hurricanes, Thunder Storms and 10 Plus inches of snow in December (unheard of here) with rain 2 out of 3 days through out it all. The worst part is that Mites start infesting coops that could never stay dry because the birds bring in the mud every night. I even disappeared from BYC around January because it was constant work attempting to to create dust bathing areas that chickens would just turn to mud pans and trying to get the water that seeped out of the ground to run off of my flat lot. Start buying up permectrin because the Mites are going to get bad before it dries out.

No matter how much I tried to build up my runs to be well above the ground around them, water kept seeping up. I could not find a solution other than to constantly change out coop bedding. The runs were poopy soups... I could layer an entire run with 6 inches of straw (expensive after a while) and by the end of the day it turned into Poopy Noodle Soup. and with in a week there was no sign straw was ever added. Currently we are dealing with a drought... I even have a Plant nursery where a drought is a Pain in the behind... I welcome the pain of this drought because flooding is 10 times worse.

 

[mixedUPturk]

Also need roofs. I have to cover every one of my runs because the rains Will come again. This is only a fix for this time but when more comes, it needs to be a protected place that drains Away. Were digging ditches and a smallish pond because our property is lower than the surroundings.

 

[MROO]

the pellets are like little sponges they will suck the water right out of that slop in the picture

They do absorb well, but once they swell, they fall apart easily. If you want them to absorb and stay put, that'll work. You'll end up with wet sawdust in your coop, then you can add bedding, like your wood chips, on top of it. You can also use pellet bedding as an absorbent, shoveling it out and onto your compost pile as it falls apart. That works, too.
A word of warning for ducks, though. If you feed pelleted food, you'll want to make sure your ducks are nowhere near the bedding pellets until they are either disintegrated or covered. You definitely don't want those expanding in your birds' stomachs!

 

[ChickNanny13]

I know the misery of constant RAIN

Looking at the last pic, the depth of the duck's feet under mud, maybe a good thick layer of the largest wood chips (BY Bob) may help the ducks situation. Yet wondering if the chips would just be engulfed? Would you be able to get some pallets? Lay in an area so they have some high ground, only concern I would have is slats & their feet slipping through ... Maybe that & wood chips? Sorry I'm not much help but I know what you're going through, I've had that problem last year ....

Fortunately I have only 4BOs & a brooder (3 x 8 x 2) in our patio that I was able to move them into when their CH was saturated. It was tight but they were dry, had alot of shoveling & raking to dry out their CH later.

There was another thread earlier in the month, someone had the same issue and improved on their muddy situation. Can't recall the thread, may want to search the forum for "muddy run".

 

[BY Bob]

Maybe you can get this shipped to you. Here is something similar to what I have used. The larger the bark pieces the better. You could at least build them an area in front of the coop to stay clean.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardeners-2-cu-ft-Decorative-Bark-Large-8052/100290010

 

[BjaJra826]

I don't have access to pallets right now. They are a hot commodity around here right now! I might have to pull the ducks into the house, give them a good bath, and put them in the coop. They don't ever go in the coop so I am hoping if I put them in their fear of ramps will keep them in. I am going to get more wood chips tomorrow. I would do it today but I had surgery in the beginning of the month and have a 10 lb weight restriction until June 20th. When my hubby gets off work my oldest daughter has a softball game we can't miss.