Preventing muddy coop

[Mommapig]

I live in a very wet muddy/snowy area and I’m wondering everyone’s thought on putting a 2’ “wall” around the bottom of the chicken run (it will have a roof)
Is the wall around a bad idea? I’m used to hot dry summers and now learning how to raise chickens in a different environment…
I know how quick livestock can get sick with muddy conditions so what’s worked for you?

See photo for example

 

[Sally PB]

The roof will help. Making water drain away from the coop will help, however you need to do that. Using a thick layer of wood chips in the run can absorb water that does come in. The short walls could help too, as long as they are able to keep the water out. If water flows under the wall, obviously it won't do any good.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I'm in rainy, wet, side-way's rain Oregon. I have precisely this on my coop and baby run to help keep splash back away. I used 24x24 tin panels. Galvanized metal roof works too. For the best run material, spare yourself the experiments and go with a thick layer of good ole wood chips. Everything dries out nicely in summer but this is how I get through wet winter. Good luck!

 

[The Birb King]

My coop gets pretty muddy at certain times of the year. I usually just dump a bunch of sand in over the mud. My coop is currently very muddy since it is the rainy season so this spring I will try to muck out the whole pen and put down fresh sand.

 

[perkolator]

I think the wall like that is a good idea such as when it snows or if you have a very short roof overhang and are trying to keep splash-back on something like sand bedding that's going to hold moisture and smell horrible. Might be a bad idea if you want the breeze to hit the birds at chicken-height when it's really hot outside; It also blocks chickens' view of something approaching the coop, such as a predator (but if it's secure then no prob).

I don't have a whole lot of roof overhang on the back-side of my coop, the wood chips bedding does get wet but it's a non-issue really. I added a 6" fence picket border to the bottom of my coop to help retain bedding from pushing up on the hardware cloth and spilling out.

But really though, if you don't want mud - use wood chips

 

[3KillerBs]

It might help, but there is really no substitute for fixing the drainage.

Relocating the coop to higher, better-drained ground may or may not be the easiest way to do this.

Other measures you could take include,

• Digging diversion ditches,
• Installing French Drain,
• Creating grass swales to divert water from the area,
• Having the area professionally re-graded (can be surprisingly affordable when done by a knowledgeable "man with a bobcat" independent contractor),
• Build up the ground inside the coop/run with loads of dirt,
• LOTS AND LOTS of coarse wood chips.

Here's a helpful article: Article 'How To Fix A Muddy Run Chicken Coop'

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I have had good success with …drum roll please… a very thick layer of fallen leaves. I literally save up fall leaves and pile them in the run.

I also keep a little ditch dug out to divert water away from the run. But yup. Love the dead leaves.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Try following this link

How To Fix A Muddy Run Chicken Coop | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens

 

[Shadrach]

I live in a very wet muddy/snowy area and I’m wondering everyone’s thought on putting a 2’ “wall” around the bottom of the chicken run (it will have a roof)
Is the wall around a bad idea? I’m used to hot dry summers and now learning how to raise chickens in a different environment…
I know how quick livestock can get sick with muddy conditions so what’s worked for you?

See photo for example

Like this?

I've been struggling with this for a while. The best option is to move the coop and run to higher ground and start again. This may not be an option as it isn't here. Ideally the run should be natural ground. Managed correctly it is by far the best option.
Chucking more stuff such as gravel or whatever just makes the inevitable a more difficult task.
What has happened in the picture above is the person responsible for a number of years didn't want to do the work necessary to sort the problem out and the ground deteriorated badly.
The main problem now is they did throw gravel and wood chip and plastic walkways in the run and just left them there. I expect that measures worked for a while but as you can see in the picture the measures didn't provide a long term solution.

Bare ground even with all the vegitation stripped is quite good at dealing with bird droppings but in a run over time the shit load becomes a skin on sorts on top of the soil and that is pretty much what you can see in the picture, a coating of wet chicken shit.

The first thing is to dig the run over, a good twelve inches deep. I've just done this in the run in the picture and the difference it has made in how long the water stays on the surface is considerable. An area that the coop sits in hasn't been dug over yet (I need to move the coop) and there are the two soil conditions enable a comparison. The dug over section drains, the non dug section doesn't.

The next thing I shall do is put a French Drain of sorts in on the outside of the fence at the top of the slope the coop sits on.

 

[Shadrach]

Hopefully the pictures below will help to make my points. That points are, don't throw more crap in the run, take more crap out and dig in the chicken shit from time to time.
Dig in French drains. On a steep slope the French drain should be at the top of the slope. Level ground might might do better with a soak away trench full of fine gravel/stones right around the run. A spades width is fine about 18 inches deep. Say 10 inches of gravel covered by 8 inches of soil. Wrap the gravel in Geo Textile cloth. It lets the water through but not the silt.

Anyway.
This is a high traffic area between the coop extension and the gate. I haven't dug it yet. It's a bit dryer then it was yesterday.

This is down the side of the coop showing the undug area.

This is the back of the coop, also undug ground. You can just see in the bottom right corner where the digging stopped.

These are pictures of ground in the run that has been dug over. Notice there are plenty of puddle opportunities.

Hopefully it will stop raining long enough for me to get the coop moved soon and the rest dug over.

On the far left of the picture is dug ground, the rest is undug.