Lots of snow around the cooops with heavy rain on the way

[saffygirrrl]

Hello,

We're in the northeast and recently got 17" of snow after days of temps in the single digits. My question is, with warm air and heavy rains on the way, should we shovel all the snow away from the coops or pile it up against them to absorb the rain? I'm worried that since the pens are on lower ground than the rest of the yard that all the rain and melting snow will turn their pens into ponds. Could someone please give me some advice? Thank you very much!

Kathleen

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You may very well end up with standing water in your pens.
For the time being, put straw down on the snow to give the chickens something to walk on.
Without knowing what your setup looks like, I would seriously consider moving the pens to higher ground or build up soil in the current location. Water needs to be able to drain away from chicken coops/runs.

 

[speedy2020]

How about dig a trench round the the coop to direct water to other area? It may not solve your problem, but will help.

 

[Howard E]

Pens being on low ground is a bad situation. Should never be the case. Having said that, it is your situation. Best short term solution I can suggest is to elevate the birds up off it by using cheap, coarse grass hay. Grass hay tends to have hard round stems and will retain its structure better than straw, which has flat collapsed stems. But straw is better than nothing. Also forget alfalfa, clover or other legume hays. Cheap, old, coarse grass hay. Look for it on craigslist in square bales if you can find it. One bale should build up an area of 10' x 10' to about 6 inches. A foot deep would be better. That much hay should last you until Spring.

 

[tigger19687]

I must be where you are
When I built my coop I made sure it was higher then the ground and that the ground sloped a bit away. At least enough for this Winter so Spring didn't totally flood out anything.
My coop is also a Resin shed so i made sure to caulk the bottom inside to help keep out wet. It has worked so far but will caulk more once Spring comes

Hay might be a good idea. I will be hopfully getting some today on my way home from a Maine trip today

 

[tigger19687]

Just wanted to bump this for others .
The Hay works well to keep their feet a but less muddy now that Spring is here and everything is wet wet wet

 

[MrsMistyReal]

Just had to say absolutely love your avatar .Sorry nothing pertaining to thread, once again my apologies, hope you find the help you need

 

[Cryss]

If at all possible move your coop to higher ground. That being said, right now you need a solution till the weather permits you to make that move.
My coop is not on the highest ground but is not at the bottom either. I got a bit more rain going through than I anticipated. Remembering that wood is absorbent I had a local tree service dump wood chips on my property. I spread enough chips to raise the level up. The chips absorb the water, the Sun dries the ones on top for walking. They love the bugs they find, and it all turns into wonderful compost. I shovel it out in the fall, screen out the big clumps, and spread it on the garden. Throw more chips in the coop for another year of composting. In the spring your garden is already fertilized. It's a win win situation.