Rain in the Run

[Criticalicious]

Pine needles have an added bonus of smelling nice. Chickens love to root around in them and they break down easily, so less to cleanup. Careful when you add them to the run - the chickens may freak out at first because the sky is falling, because of course.

 

[ValerieJ]

Pine needles have an added bonus of smelling nice. Chickens love to root around in them and they break down easily, so less to cleanup. Careful when you add them to the run - the chickens may freak out at first because the sky is falling, because of course.

LOL Don't I know it.

 

[Acre4Me]

Hi from western Ohio! Yeah, it’s been raining...A LOT! One nearby county ran out of high water signs bc ground so saturated there were a variety of new places with high water.

Our chicken run also has some water in it, but worse, there was so much water (several inches worth) that fell in a few hours a couple of different times, that it flowed so fast it washed out the deep bedding and left exposed dirt behind (*mud*) in that one area of the run. Luckily, we built a raised coop, so the water didn’t get into it. So, as a temp fix, we bought bags of sand and sandbagged the side of the run. At least flowing water won’t wash out the mud or any bedding we add.

Our future fix will be to elevate the area a bit, and add some drainage leading to the field behind us. This will be in the form of ditch with drain pipe and gravel.

It has been a horribly wet year! Good luck!

 

[MROO]

Maybe it's just me, or the size of my chicken run, but I never pick up or rake up the straw. It eventually turns into dirt. I use about 6 bales a year in a low area of my run and it never comes out. Now that being said, my run is about 4000sf and I put straw in about a 400sf area, but really, why does it need to come out? I don't rake poop out anywhere else. When that area gets mushy I just add more straw. LOL They do have plenty of area where grass and greenery grows, so maybe that is the difference.

That sounds wonderful! I'd LOVE to have a big run, like that. I can't imagine having greens growing more than a day or so in mine. I rotate flower pots in and out to give them something to peck at ... and the hanging cabbage trick works wonders, but it's not the same as having real, growing greens to forage through.
My sister's run is big enough to accommodate a built-in compost pile. It started as a bedding pile to soak up the wet spot, and grew into an full-on eat-all-you-can-find bug buffet. She just adds scraps and bedding, while her chickens keep the pile turned over - and it makes GREAT compost! I wish I had the space to spread out, but that's not gonna happen here. My run needs periodic clean-out to stay healthy, which unfortunately means taking out the puddle-soaking additions ... not a fun job! {{sigh}}

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Pine needles? That's an awesome idea. They are free in this yard! Love that idea.

Yup I used to use a lawn sweeper that pulls behind our mower and throw all the grass clippings, pine needles, leaves etc into the run. The girls loved it, it cleaned up the yard, and it was free carbon to balance the poop nitrogen. Now where I live is dry and there are a lot of mesquite thorns so I don't bother

We covered the top of our run with plastic sheeting and tarps to protect it from turning into mud. It's not pretty but it's dry most of the time. And it was cheap. For ground cover we use pine needles because they're plentiful and cheap here. With that much damp, you may want to avoid any kind of straw or hay, in case it begins to mold. Aspergillus can be nasty.

Every time I try that either they get torn up from wind or collapse from rain or snow!

 

[Calhoun-Chick]

We covered the top of our run with plastic sheeting and tarps to protect it from turning into mud. It's not pretty but it's dry most of the time. And it was cheap. For ground cover we use pine needles because they're plentiful and cheap here. With that much damp, you may want to avoid any kind of straw or hay, in case it begins to mold. Aspergillus can be nasty.

The crazy thing is, that the roof is covered on the side that puddles!! The sides are not covered, only in winter to block from the harsh cold winds. I'm guessing that it just sloped that bad, that ALL the water collects there. And I learned my lesson using straw, never again! The sun is shining today, (more rain expected for the next 5 days) and my husband is going to add more sand. Hoping it helps!

 

[aart]

Can you make the rain barrel not dump water into the run? Do you have nice big overhangs on the run to keep water out?

JT

Exactly!

Hook up the output house, stretch it way away from run and open er up.
and/or start digging a trench.

 

[Calhoun-Chick]

Exactly!

Hook up the output house, stretch it way away from run and open er up.
and/or start digging a trench.

Yes, we have fixed the rain barrel overflow problem. Its just the flash flooding/rain that is the culprit now.

 

[Calhoun-Chick]

Sounds like trench digging is in our near future! Thank you for all of the advice!

 

[jthornton]

A drain and buried hose to another area does wonders. I used these catch basins along with this pipe to keep water drained from around my garage, machine shop and fab shop. They also have trench drains if that fits the area better they are a little less money and have a lot bigger opening.

JT