- Dec 23, 2012
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Hi - I'm pretty new to this and I have 3 chickens so far. Intending to get 3 to 5 more. I got a sweet coop that is meant to house 8 and a friend of mine put a 10 x 12 foot run around it. The coop is up on 4x4s and those are screwed into concrete piers so the coop is pretty high. Inside the coop is dry and the bottom of it is wire which is supposed to mean that the poop will drop through to the ground. However it does not seem to do that so much so I guess I need some help figuring out the best way to clean it. I had heard that this was the easiest way and all you have to do is rake it out on a regular basis and compost it.
It's raining cats and dogs here in Sonoma County, CA and the run is in a low area. This morning I went down and there was a pool of water on the downside and another large pool of water right by the door pouring water into the coop. I dug trenches in strategic spots to make the water go in a different direction. I'm trying to figure out what the best strategy is to try and keep the run from becoming a pond. In order to get the water on the down side to drain out I had to remove lots of debri and also kind of open up a drain on the edge where I wanted it tight to keep out predators.
Tomorrow is going to be less rainy and so I am thinking of shoring up my dirt trenches of today with something more permanent like gravel, rocks logs etc. So far the trenches are causing The flow into the run to be less than it was.
So I have a few problems to deal with - how to keep the poop cleaned up - how to keep the food dry. (right now I have the feeder under the coop and covered so if the chicken poop falls it won't go in the food. I've been scattering sunflower seeds, cheese and other treats around for them - they don't seem to mind the mud and water as much as I do. The coop itself is nice and dry....
If I leave the feeder out the crumble in it out it turns to mush and that's why I put it under the coop and up on a paving stone. At night I remove it and put it in an aluminum trash can secured down with bungee cords so as not to attract small predators to the coop area. The chicken wire my friend got has huge holes in it and a rat would have no problem getting in there. So we are going to start covering it over with the 1/2" stuff. The coop itself is predator proof but the run is not so far.
If anyone has any advice to offer it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much - tomorrow I will try and post pictures to illustrate this tale.
It's raining cats and dogs here in Sonoma County, CA and the run is in a low area. This morning I went down and there was a pool of water on the downside and another large pool of water right by the door pouring water into the coop. I dug trenches in strategic spots to make the water go in a different direction. I'm trying to figure out what the best strategy is to try and keep the run from becoming a pond. In order to get the water on the down side to drain out I had to remove lots of debri and also kind of open up a drain on the edge where I wanted it tight to keep out predators.
Tomorrow is going to be less rainy and so I am thinking of shoring up my dirt trenches of today with something more permanent like gravel, rocks logs etc. So far the trenches are causing The flow into the run to be less than it was.
So I have a few problems to deal with - how to keep the poop cleaned up - how to keep the food dry. (right now I have the feeder under the coop and covered so if the chicken poop falls it won't go in the food. I've been scattering sunflower seeds, cheese and other treats around for them - they don't seem to mind the mud and water as much as I do. The coop itself is nice and dry....
If I leave the feeder out the crumble in it out it turns to mush and that's why I put it under the coop and up on a paving stone. At night I remove it and put it in an aluminum trash can secured down with bungee cords so as not to attract small predators to the coop area. The chicken wire my friend got has huge holes in it and a rat would have no problem getting in there. So we are going to start covering it over with the 1/2" stuff. The coop itself is predator proof but the run is not so far.
If anyone has any advice to offer it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much - tomorrow I will try and post pictures to illustrate this tale.
