Suggestions on what to do with our Run!!

[sunshineyarns]

I'd recommend three changes; Roof all or part of the run, to manage rain/ snow and general wetness; Fix any drainage issues; and use shavings and plant material to create deep litter, or at least a bed of litter, rather than that nasty sand. If spreading lime helps to manage the mess you've got now, great, but then move on to a better, easier to maintain, more chicken friendly surface. Mary

How big is your run that you have nice looking litter in?!

 

[jeria]

Is your gutter above clogged and dumping water into your run? Mine dump into an unwanted places when they are instead of directing the water away from my house

 

[sunshineyarns]

Our gutter isn't clogged, but we do have a french drain beneath the run that has been causing us some issues (it gets clogged from time to time). We do have most of the water though directed away from the house (after flooding issues back in 2013).

 

[chookchick]

Okay, here is what I would do with that run. I'm a landscaper too, so I know a thing or two about drainage. The best thing to do would be to slope the whole run slightly away from the house, not a steep slope, about 2% would be fine. Make sure the ground is nice and even in the run.

Then put a drain along the side, even outside the fence, cover it with drain rock, and keep it open to the top, (no dirt over it). French drains don't work well unless they go all the way to the surface. Make sure the drain has a slope of at least 2% also from front to back. Use a sock around the pipe to keep the drain clean, then lots of drain rock.

Can't recall, but make sure all overhanging roofs have gutters, even on the coop would be nice. Get the water out of there!

Lastly, if you can get your hands on a lot of wood chip to cover the ground, I think that would work really well for you (you could trial an area). With that big an area, I bet you'd only need to replace it once a year.

Good luck--it's hard when they get old!