Plexiglass walls in run?

[khind]

Walk around to the North side, and enter the Large coop. These pics show one iteration of the setup. (West to your right, Small coop closed off for then-brooding hen inside the crate, to your left.) If you can imagine, these are put together in a "T" shape. So the plastic that you're seeing as you look into the small coop is covering up what's left of a wire window that's higher than the small coop's roof.
Closer-up pic on bottom to give a little more info of the construction of the small coop.

 

[khind]

I think a big part of the washout is not having gutters.

I agree ditching it will help.....fill those ditches with rock to help stop erosion. It will be work but is less expensive than trying to lay pavers or doing a french drain system.

That shade cloth will help block driving rain as it will hit the cloth and most won't go through it.

Most external best boxes that have a lid that lifts leak at the hinge area without plastic/rubber/BIG roof overhangs. You are certainly not alone in that issue.

...And i just finally thought of gutters a few weeks ago! That's on the soon list. I'm glad to know about the nest boxes. I'll return to this ditching-with-rocks idea. I have dug ruts into the ground during a downpour to divert water around to the front of the coop, but didn't know how to make it permanent.

 

[khind]

** I Forgot to mention: Coop sits on a decline - - higher behind it to the North, lower in front to the south. **

 

[khind]

Is this a nightmare, the way I'm posting these? I'm using my phone...
The Back of the coops. Plastic down in some places - rain might've been in the forecast. Buckets placed under since there are no gutters. Otherwise, it gets damp on the ground along the "baseboard" areas in certain areas with less coverage.

 

[khind]

My chicken sitter is coming over. I will take some pictures of the way that I place large boards to keep the sun out and also to keep some of the rain out. And then I'll post those a little later.!! Thank you all for looking and commenting so far. I really appreciate it!

 

[Aunt Angus]

I don't know that this will help with your setup, but in my old setup, I bought cheap plastic shower curtains (clear ones). I strung twine along the side of my run and used it like a curtain rod. I pulled the curtains out over the run when it rained and weighed the bottoms down with bricks and rocks I had just laying around. When it was dry, I'd open them. Cost me about $5 total. The run wasn't perfectly dry, but it kept out the "sideways" rain. Sometimes I'd only close one side of the curtains, depending on the direction of the wind/rain. The curtains would be thrashed by the end of the season, but for $5, it wasn't a big deal.

 

[3KillerBs]

** I Forgot to mention: Coop sits on a decline - - higher behind it to the North, lower in front to the south. **

With that land form you should be able to divert water by careful ditching.

 

[khind]

Just want to add the rest of the pictures so as not to disappoint anyone. Lol. This is my prep for heavy rain. Get ready. If it's only supposed to drizzle, or if we're not supposed to get a downpour for more than one day, then I only institute maybe half of these measures. But if there's heavy rain for one day or days in a row, then I end up with mud and pooling of water inside parts of the coop. Also, maybe some other issue will catch someone's eye in these pictures that has nothing to do with rain or sun!
The Backs of the coops: #1 is the small coop, and 2,3 & 4 are of the large coop with closeups to show that there are spaces on the sides of & above the door for ventilation. Of course the boards are not sealed, & there's ventilation from below as well. However, I usually have heavy patio pavers at the bottom of those boards because winds have blown them off in the past.
Pic #5: Turn the corner West. Wheel barrel to help catch rain & to hold up a board leaning against an area to keep rain out. And that drop-down window to the right would be closed just halfway (that's the roost area).

 

[khind]

Pics # 6-9: The front, small coop featured. More of the same. More spots open to ventilate. Plastic is held on just tightly enough so it stays, but it's open at the top and loose on the bottom. Also some detail on the door . And at the right are dark green open-slat boards. Pic # 10: Turn the corner East. Backer board with open air space. If the rain is really bad, I stand a tall plant in that space.

 

[khind]

Pics #10-13: Work your way back to the front left side, large coop: Awkward "window" above the small coop roof. (And a board would stand at that open space where all the plastic tore off.) And then there's the roost door, facing East. The little drop door that I cut into it would be half closed, but look at that horrible gap in that door. In the wintertime when the wind blows, it hits my chickens rights on the comb. I've had a rooster get frostbite until I figured out what was happening. So then I started to stuff something in there in the winter and just leave that upper door half open.
Last pic is a closeup of the awnings we made above the vent windows we cut out. MAJOR breakdown in communication... ( In fact those little drop windows weren't supposed to even be as large as they are. They were supposed to be much thinner ventilating spaces. Yikes)