Very Wet Weather = MUD and standing water

[Armymomx3]

Good morning. I live in the Coastal Mountains of California and I am new to chickens, adopting three adult girls in September. After years of drought this year Mother Nature has decided to blesses us with an abondance of rain, LOTS of rain. Two weeks ago our run was a swimming pool because the water table is so high even the drainage is not working. We temporarily put in a raised floor made of plywood. Yesterday we got another 8 inches of rain with over 10 plus inches forecasted this weekend ( I should have gotten ducks). It looks like we are going to have at least 3 more months of rain and I am going to have to keep them elevated off the ground. I have shavings on the floor and keep it clean and I let them out daily to run (although they hate the rain). Is it ok to have them on a wood floor for extended periods? The option of having them knee deep in water does not seem like a good one. Thank you for any advise/encouragement

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

For clarity - are you intending to maintain the run in a raised status and that is the wood floor you are asking about or are you asking about keeping them confined within the coop? The former is no problem at all, the latter would only be an issue if the space would not be adequate for the birds to be in comfortably and without contributing to the potential issues that arise with overcrowding. You can use enrichment tricks (toys, treats, etc) to alleviate any boredom they seem to be encountering with the confinement.
On a good note, you can make use of the rainy months ahead to start working out the plans to re-design/re-work your coop/run to avoid this issue next year.

 

[Armymomx3]

This would be their new run we just built. Their coop is on higher ground and dry. We have french drains and unfortunately with the high water table water is just rolling over the top of the ground. The raised floor is in the run about 4 inches off the ground enough for water to drain under it. I just wanted to be sure being in plywood is ok. Like I mentioned I put shavings for them to soften it up We have been in drought for so long and everyone has been praying for rain. Lol. And we got it!!!!

 

[Armymomx3]

 

[Armymomx3]

Their new "coop" attached to the run is in the process of being built, (if it ever stops raining). We have the foundation built but for now their temporary coop is inside

 

[mizjones]

So cute! And it looks like you've got perfect sun exposure, nice job!

 

[TalkALittle]

Yes, they can be on a plywood floor for a couple month without any problem. You could even house them on it indefinitely if you wanted to, especially since you put shavings over it.

Your problem sounds very much like what happened to me two springs ago when New England's record snowfall started to melt and made my run a sopping mess of puddles and standing water. I laid down solid pallets to form a floor and dumped shavings on top. The birds were dry and happy.

Once everything dried out to a more manageable level, I removed the pallets and decided to go with a thick layer of deep organic material (shavings, dried leaves, chopped straw, grass clippings, etc.) While we haven't had snowmelt anywhere near the amount we did that bad year, the litter has managed any wetness mother nature has throw at it.