Pacific Northwesterners - I need your input! Preparing for the rain.

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I'm in rainy Olympia WA.

I get tree trimming companies bringing me loads of wood chips for FREE. A couple years ago they were unable to take them to the composting places because they include douglas fir needles, so had to start paying to take them to landfill.

I'm getting more delivered tomorrow and Tues. The companies advertise on Craigslist.

I have clay soil that doesn't drain, so a really thick layer 8-15" of the wood chips works for me. I let the freshly chipped wood chips sit and dry out and then spread them in and around the run and lower portion of pasture that gets wet.

I have my 12 x 24 ft dog kennel run covered. I also spread stall dry and then throw out some scratch and the birds fluff everything together.

 

[tedabug]

What exactly is stall dry? I keep imagining saw dust. could it be used in an uncovered area?

 

[JanetSmithery]

Not to entirely derail the thread...but how did you install the traffic light window? I got three to put in my coop, but no matter how I cut and sanded, I couldn't get the light lenses (with gasket) into the holes.

 

[tedabug]

Ah ha! The traffic light lens. Well, mine came with a black rubber seal (gasket?) around it that had a slit in the rubber for sealing around the wood. My handy father cut a hole with a jig saw and it took three of us to squeeze that rubber seal into the cut out hole. Now, my sister's coop has one too. Her coop was made of plywood so it went right in. My coop is made of thicker wood, so my Dad had to make a plywood insert (the beige ring seen from the outside) to attach the lens to, then we power stapled the wooden ring onto my coop wall. It glows a cool green inside the nesting area. I'm not gonna lie, it was no easy task to get that darned thing sealed the right way.

Here's the inside:

 

[cobrien]

I get free wood chips from tree trimmers or local places that have it for free, and dump it in the run. Much better than straw. I add 3-4" every year right before the rainy season. Oh crap, that's right now!!! I have an orange tree growing in there and it is quite happy with all the chicken poo and mulch.

For anyone in the SF bay area, there's a great place in SF called Bayview Greenwaste, they will get a front loader and dump a full load of wood chips (they have compost, too) into your truck for FREE. It's worth getting some just for the thrill of having it dumped into your truck for you.

 

[columbiacritter]

I have 5 coops with runs and everyone of them seems to require a different solution. The main run with large fowl and ducks is a battle all year despite it being sloped. It gets wheel barrow loads of said, gravel, and yard debris. Still it gets sucking mud sometimes. The ducks think it's great to make boggy holes all over it.

The bantam buckeye run develops potholes that need sand to fill them in.

The bantam speck run so far has been well drained and needs only the occasional load of pea gravel.

The Japanese is partially covered and I use sand and sawdust to keep their mud level under control.

Usually our isolation coop and run isn't occupied in the rainy months, but this year it will. It's a dog run next to our house so it gets a tarp over it and has a bed of about 10"s of gravel that sunk into the soil, but still allows really good drainage.

Not even sure where the coop I'm picking up this weekend is going.

 

[gramakoko]

If you go to the search tab and type in STALL DRY. The topic was called stall dry my new best freind.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Stall Dry works IF your run is covered and not constantly getting rained on on a daily basis.

 

[FinsUp]

Stall Dry (Dri) is fantastic! The gal at Coastal in OC turned me on to it. I have some in an empty pickle jar with holes in the lid - think Large salt shaker. We sprinkle in the coop when cleaning - on the poop board to dry as they fall and in the run if stinky. I hope to add a nice thick layer of sand in the run before the "real" rain comes. This last stuff has just been "fall" rain! Much like everyone in the PNW - we are fortunate to have clay

- hard as a rock, but turns to muck quickly. From what I have read - sand is the best choice.