Muddy run -- flooring help/suggestions

[DevGoddess]

Hey y'all!

A couple of weeks ago we finally moved our two "og" hens to their new coop and run. The coop is a small prefab, and the run is one of those metal ones that you have to assemble; a tarp is covering one section, but we plan on getting another to cover the section their coop is under. Everything has been going great! Except... it has been storming for the last 24 hours or so, and now the run is a boggy mess. I want our girls to be comfortable and healthy (our two new ladies in the old run aren't having any mud problems), but I'm getting confused on what flooring to use.

I've got the TSC Pelletized Bedding available, but I'm also seeing stuff about gravel/river rock, construction sand, mulch, etc.

Our ground isn't clay, just lumpy all over the place where lots of puddles form, and we're in North Carolina near the Jacksonville area.

I know I need to elevate the run floor, but for the life of me I don't know where to start with the flooring material. Everyone seems to either love or hate all of those different options, and I'm just looking for a budget-friendly way to help my girls' QOL. Like, should I put a layer of gravel down for drainage with a layer of sand or the pelletized bedding over it...? I'm not really feeling the use of mulch, seeing as our entire yard is currently covered in it (wooded and haven't cleaned up from fall) and we still have flooding.

Thank y'all in advance!! Everyone has been super helpful, and I've been doing a deep info dive for the past few days, lol.

 

[azygous]

Your issue is drainage and directing run-off away from and around the run. A sturdy roof over the entire run would be a good start. Two decades ago, I went with a plastic tarp over my run, and it quickly blew away, and what was left, collapsed under the weight of rain water. For a little more money, you can buy corrugated panels, either clear or metal, that are quick and easy to install ad they are not going to flap in the wind or collapse under a heavy rain.

But first you need to go out when it's raining and watch where the run-off wants to go. That would determine what direction you slope your roof. Then you would need to trench around the run to divert water away from the run.

If you do those things, it really doesn't matter what substrate you use for the run. It will remain dry.