My Run is so WET

[Steph Martin]

Hi. I'm in Nova Scotia, Canada and we've had a bit of rain in the last little while. My question is how can I keep my run a bit dryer. Sounds dumb but it seems to be taking so long to dry up after each rain and I'm nervous that this will cause bacteria and the like. My chickens don't have anywhere to dust bathe and I've had two that I had to remove because they were acting odd and ill. The coop itself is up off the ground, dry, and well ventilated. I clean it thoroughly every two months. I put in sea sand and potash for them to bathe in today but that won't last past the next rain I doubt. Does anyone out there have any suggestions? Should I perhaps put some gravel in there, rake it up, what???

 

[teach1rusl]

I would frame in the bottom perimeter of your run with 2x4s or 2x6s, and dump in lots of pea gravel and sand...several inches. That should allow all the water to run right through, and sand is really easy to clean, and it dries out quickly.

 

[WishboneDawn]

I'm in Nova Scotia too! My meat chicks (4 weeks) are out in an old dog run that we use as a tractor and spent several hours in a low spot (didn't realize it) in the lawn yesterday during a downfall. They were rather wet and cursing me out when I went out to move the tractor.

No advice (we haven't got the run or coop up yet for layers) but I do know what you're going through.

 

[chickenbythesea]

hey another bluenoser here (didn't realize there were this many of us here

) since today is super sunny it should dry out your run a fair bit today. You can alway string a tarp over one end of the run to keep that area dry. that way too, it they want shade they have it and a place to be unseen by arial predators. My run is in the woods so there's a fair bit of tree branches to keep the heavier rain to a minimum. We're on the eastern shore and get lots of wind and rain and fog, and so far everything's been ok (other then being chilly), but then again, my chicks are only 4.5 weeks old. Hope this helps a little.

 

[MareeZoCool]

Try one of those big resin dog houses to create a ddirth-bath house for your chickens. The flock will love the dry dirt, and the dog house will keep the rain off.

 

[Steph Martin]

Thanks everyone. I certainly can use this information!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Check out this article. Some things you cannot do much about, but some things you can. The two main ideas are to try to keep water out to start with, then to get it to drain when it does get in.

Use gutters and downspouts or maybe berms, swales, or ditches to keep water out. Run covers might help. Building it up with sand or sand over pea gravel can help it drain, if it has some place to drain to.

Good luck.

Pat’s Big Ol' Mud Page (fixing muddy runs):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run