Run floor flooded, what are our options?

[Bear Foot Farm]

Might wood chips in a wet area create a strong opportunity for mold (which is terrible for contributing to chickens' getting respiratory diseases)?

I'm pretty sure it would
I'd never put anything "organic" in an area I want dry

Sand is the way to go​

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
If it's just a temporary thing from the hurricane you could put some pallets in there or put bales or leaves of straw in there for them to walk on. If you think this is something that is going to recur every time you get a hard rain, I'd build up the area with sand or limestone screenings. Limestone makes a good base. The fines will pack down to a firm surface yet still drain very well.

 

[redriver]

Patandchickens has a good page with lots of info on fixing a muddy run.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run

 

[IRChicken]

What is the soil composition on your site? What is your ground water level at?
Some areas of the country have ground water not too far below the surface. My uncles property is one such place. About every 25 years because of rains and other factors, the ground water level rises, flooding his basement.

If you have a clay soil you could try driving some holes through the surface, maybe 3' or 4' deep.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I was wondering if you could get some pallets, too. It would get them out of the water right away, while you figure out how you want to deal with regrading the run.

 

[Life is Good!]

Something shifted underground in our yard and we now flood after every good hard rain and every spring thaw (where we never had since 1962).

Long term, we added a lift pump station - 4" corregated pipe (wrapped so dirt won't fill it immediately) for 300' of our yards (neighbors too) up to and connected into the storm drainage system for our area. Cost - $25K for everything. Don't recommend this option unless you think this is a permanent situation - ours is.

Short term, we dug a 'dry well' pit (bought at Lowes? or Menards?) - it's like a black plastic garbage can with a fitted lid meant for long term installations. We dug out (in the muck, was a LOT of effort) 3' down and about 2' wide to fit this thing into the wettest, lowest part of the yard. Into the pit goes a Craftsman 1/2 hp submersible sump pump fitted out with 400' of corregated tubing - that's how far it is from the wettest part of our yard to the storm drain inlet near our street. Buy a Craftsman pump - keep the receipt - it's warrantied forever and when it goes out, you simply take it (the box and the receipt you taped to the box) to your Sears store and they hand you a new one, free.

Our pump is similar to this one:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_08302655000P?prdNo=6&blockNo=6&blockType=G6

For our permanent installation, we dug 4" pipe to a couple different spots in the yard with a surface inlet, so any standing water is then sucked out by the Craftsman pump. Complete pain in the back. Call your chiropractor prior to starting this project! Don't have one? Get one before starting!

This is what keeps our yard dry enough to use year round, instead of being a cess-pool of mosquitos. Now, it's just a cess-pool for about 2weeks of the year. Ok. Maybe 4 weeks. But it's so much better, who's counting?!

 

[IRChicken]

Yes. A French Drain or Curtain Drain are permanent solutions for permanent water problems. Ponds are another solution, diverting water to another lower area.

@Life is Good!
Wow, that is a lot of work. I bet you cried, "Land Ho!" when all dried out.