Raining Again

[TheRealWitwiki]

This rain has been crazy this year! Every time I turn around my run is muddy. I use straw when it drys up and then it rains again. Time for an upgrade. I have an old coop with several holes in the roof so that was a project anyway, but my run needs a roof. I was never worried about sun because our yard is completely shaded by large trees. It's the rain. I walked through a mucky yard in pouring rain this morning to feed and water the chickens and ducks. I ended up using a trough feeder inside today because the chickens will literally just stay in the run all day and get soaked. Then the eggs get covered in mud and it's just a mess for everyone. I want to build two runs one on either side of the coop. A duck run and a chicken run, both with roofs to keep it somewhat dry. Does anyone have anything similar?

 

[Crow-ded house]

Too much rain!!! There is no dry area in my county and ponds and streams overfull and the ground is saturated. Our area is so wet and boggy that even using deep litter the ground is still muddy. My runs are covered but if groundwater is seeping up the cover does not matter. There is just no place for the rainwater to go. We put cut logs in there so they will have dry areas to stand. Straw will just make a moldy mess. Got to wait for this to dry and hope it does not rain for a while. This weather just sucks!!!

 

[Acre4Me]

Yes, we have plans to complete a roof over the run. Run and coop back up to a barn, so single slant roof on coop (wood and shingle roof) with a metal roof going over the rest of the run. Building the structure is the biggest part of this. Our coop is elevated, so it stays dry. The rest of run is DLM, and stays “clean” - no mud, even when rained on. Run (including coop) is 10’ x 50’. Bought 12’ metal panels, the slope drops 2’ over a 10’ distance.

 

[Crow-ded house]

Yes, we have plans to complete a roof over the run. Run and coop back up to a barn, so single slant roof on coop (wood and shingle roof) with a metal roof going over the rest of the run. Building the structure is the biggest part of this. Our coop is elevated, so it stays dry. The rest of run is DLM, and stays “clean” - no mud, even when rained on. Run (including coop) is 10’ x 50’. Bought 12’ metal panels, the slope drops 2’ over a 10’ distance.

only way for an elevated coop to work here is if it is 3ft up. Luckily our home is not on a slap or we would be having issues. At least no rain in forecast for a week so hopefully this will dry us out.

 

[Acre4Me]

only way for an elevated coop to work here is if it is 3ft up

That is true! Our coop is elevated nearly that much - it is elevated 2.5'. Birds love to go under it all the time for the shade and dry ground!