Water logged

[Rebechenson75]

It's been raining on and off for over a week. My run is water logged. The area that is covered is only slightly dryer. They don't seem to care that they are living in a virtual swamp. Any suggestions on helping to give them a drier area?

 

[sourland]

Ditching to drain/divert water from the run?

 

[Altairsky]

When it rains really really a lot, there isn't much that can be done. It rained 2 months straight here. Even inside the coop there was water infiltration because the ground was soaked. My chickens free range but they only free ranged my patio and covered it in poop, because everything other than concrete was swamp, lol.

 

[Rebechenson75]

Can I use pine mulch or some other wood mulch for the base layer then top it with shavings?

 

[nuthatched]

Can I use pine mulch or some other wood mulch for the base layer then top it with shavings?

That will be only a short term solution, can water be diverted or drained?

 

[Rebechenson75]

That will be only a short term solution, can water be diverted or drained?

Not really. It's kind of a lower area so water seems to collect. If I can build up the soil it should remedy the situation.

 

[Sefirothe]

You could put shavings on top of mulch but they wouldn't stay on top for long. Your chickens will turn and scratch them right in. I'd just use undyed mulch/arborist wood chips (once aged a bit) to build up the base higher than the surrounding area if you can.

In the middle of October, I cleaned out the wood pellets I was using in the coop by dumping them into a pile in the middle of the run on top of the already existing wood chips. Six bags of well used and mostly broken down horse stall pellets.

You can barely tell I did it by a month later.

 

[Rebechenson75]

By the way. Thank you all for your time and suggestions. Would it hurt the chickens if I left alfalfa stems in the run and added other material?

 

[Penpal]

Our property, 6.7 acres, slopes slightly to the west. We were advised to build at the east end. Of course, we didn't. DH wanted a pond. A bulldozer came and did the deed. Now we have a lovely little pond with fish, frogs, and turtles, cattails too. It solves the water problem.

If you had a small pond you could divert the water from the chicken area with a French drain to the pond.

 

[Rebechenson75]

Our property, 6.7 acres, slopes slightly to the west. We were advised to build at the east end. Of course, we didn't. DH wanted a pond. A bulldozer came and did the deed. Now we have a lovely little pond with fish, frogs, and turtles, cattails too. It solves the water problem.

If you had a small pond you could divert the water from the chicken area with a French drain to the pond.

Unfortunately we have .57 acre. There is no room for a pond. I would be excited to have cattails available.

What is a French drain? And how do you do it?