Please help me modify my run floor

[Lulu-vt]

I built my coop late summer last year…after mud season! I have limited places to build because I live on a hill. My run floor is downhill of some drainage- not a ton, but enough to be wet a lot. My plan is to put in a french drain on the outside of the run to divert water away and then put in a floor to the run.

The run itself is slightly sloping. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal, but it’s actually pretty annoying. I’m going to dig out what i can on one side and build up the other to make it flat (if i can).

Ideally I want a sandy floor. we have a lot of clay earth where i live so the drainage is slow. How can i properly do the floor? Can i just get construction grade sand and put on top? I’m thinking not. But that should would be easy!

Do i need to dig out, layer with a landscape mat, cover with bigger stones and then the construction sand? This is what you would do for a patio. Is it the same? I just don’t want the mud to be coming through. But this sounds like a lot of work!!

 

[DobieLover]

Please provide pictures of your setup and a sketch of the layout from above with arrows showing run off flow paths. Is your run covered with a solid pitched roof? Is all the water pooling in poor draining low areas?

Trying to build a run base as you describe is not that practical considering the amount of digging chickens do.

 

[Lulu-vt]

Please provide pictures of your setup and a sketch of the layout from above with arrows showing run off flow paths. Is your run covered with a solid pitched roof? Is all the water pooling in poor draining low areas?

Trying to build a run base as you describe is not that practical considering the amount of digging chickens do.

ok. i’ll head out for a photo and draw a diagram. Hold tight!

 

[Lulu-vt]

Please provide pictures of your setup and a sketch of the layout from above with arrows showing run off flow paths. Is your run covered with a solid pitched roof? Is all the water pooling in poor draining low areas?

Trying to build a run base as you describe is not that practical considering the amount of digging chickens do.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Ideally I want a sandy floor. we have a lot of clay earth where i live so the drainage is slow. How can i properly do the floor? Can i just get construction grade sand and put on top?

Completely different climate and soil, but we started with sand in our chicken run. Loved it the first year. I scooped the poop twice a day and it was nice and soft for the chickens. By the second year, we were having issues with the main space compacting like concrete and having to use a hoe to break up the surface. The sand also began to smell anytime it got wet. We ended up removing the sand and spreading it on part of the driveway. Our driveway stunk for months! We now use a combination of wood chips, pine needles, shavings and straw to build up a base taller than the surrounding ground to keep the run dry during our spring floods.

 

[Lulu-vt]

@DobieLover
I've attached some photos.

Photo 1 shows the surrounding landscape. The coop is at the base of this hill. I know that sounds bad, but the majority of the drainage runs past the coop in the back where that black line swoops down. It heads to our creek. The smaller black lines show what is running off into the coop.

Photo 2 is the muddy run. It's not terrible but we still have a lot of frozen snow. Also, hard to tell...behind the door in the small circle, it pools here.

Photo 3 is under the coop itself. The ground is lower where the posts went in so of course it is filling with water. Duh. Do I fill with sand, concrete? Not sure.

Photo 4 shows inside the run and the slope. I would say without measuring that there is a 12" discrepancy with the slope highest on the right. It doesn't seem to be draining downwards, but stays in the middle. I'd like to either flatten the run or build it up to become flat.

I have a pitched roof. On both the run and the coop.

Photo 5 is the coop. It has a pitched roof (I built this first) but the roof drains straight towards the run. I can't figure out how to put on a gutter since it is metal and I don't have eves to attach to. The snow melt drips down. I've jury-rigged something for now but it's not really working.

 

[StacyT]

I have the same issue. Built my coops/run right after I purchased the land and didn’t think about the water run off caused by the hill. Still looking for the best solution as I have several coops/runs on the hill. I was going to try starting with a base layer of wood chips followed by straw. At this point we won’t get much more rain this year so plan on trying this summer to redo the runs. I thought about sand but when I used it in the coops after a while it would get hard and not as easy to clean.

 

[Ted Brown]

How big is the coop? What flexibility do you have to relocate the run (possible to have the run come off the door side of coop)?

 

[Lulu-vt]

i’ve heard that… Cold and hard. I’m not sure I mind since the ground is cold and hard as well. At least sand wouldn’t get muddy. Right? I’m not sure there is a perfect answer. We are still in front of rain season and also of all our snow melt off. Mud season is our next season. I’m trying to get ahead!

 

[Lulu-vt]

How big is the coop? What flexibility do you have to relocate the run (possible to have the run come off the door side of coop?)

zero flexibility! The coop is 12‘ x 8‘ and the run is 18 x 10‘. The run comes off the side of the coop, I have electricity panels in the back, front door in front and nesting boxes on the other side. When I built the coop and run in June and July, there was no mud. So this fix would only really be for our mud season, which is the later part of April and May.