I have a 10'x10" run that is completely covered with about 4" of sand. We had a good amount of rain last night and now there is standing water everywhere. Any opinions/suggestions on how to dry it out? I usually put leaves in as litter but they are all soaked too. I was thinking straw. What to ya'll think?
I wouldn't add straw to that situation. That just adds sodden mess on top of sodden mess. The rain will need time to absorb, but if it has trouble absorbing into your soil, sand may not be the best choice for your run. In a rainy season there's no drying out a run unless you put a roof on it, but you can build a deep litter in that run, which will allow the water to wick to the bottom and leave the top merely damp, but no standing water happening. In a run situation, building it at least a foot deep and more is most advisable.
A good variety of materials seems to work best for wicking that water to the bottom, different materials of different particle sizes. Leaves, twigs, straw, wood chips or shavings, pine needles and cones, woody weeds, corn stalks and shucks, etc. I'd avoid using too much of any one kind of material unless it would be leaves...they tend to break down easily and can form a spongy layer of footing in the run but they still need other materials to provide good air spaces and moisture absorption.
Pretty soon after getting a good deep litter system going, you should start to see the soils underneath your litter are starting to become more able to absorb excess water...as the worms move through the soil and pull that material into their tunnels, as bus and grubs move up out of the soil to follow the nutrient stream there, the soils underneath become softer, more aerated and able to take on more water without it standing at the surface.
