Water logged

[Penpal]

For a French drain you basically make a ditch and fill it with gravel. This way, you have a ditch for the water, but you can walk on the gravel.

I wonder if, with your property you could have a French drain to drain the chicken area, and have it go to a small "pond" that is really a dug out space filled with gravel. This will create a large puddle, but the mosquitos won't be able to use it as a breeding ground. Some people put iris in them.

 

[Rebechenson75]

I will see what my hubby thinks. It would give me an excuse to plant cattails

 

[linguini]

In addition to suggestions above (wood chips, drainage), if you can get a hold of a free pallet, put it on cinder blocks can give them some space to rest and play - they'll like that!

 

[Bawkbok]

Pine pellets (bought at TSC) are good for absorbing moisture. They swell and break down into saw dust. We also have a lower lying area and use the deep litter method which is about 6" higher than the surrounding area. It contains pine pellets, oak / pine bark mulch, some pine shavings from the coop after clean out, dried leaves and some dirt from the compost pile and dried ash from the fire pit. All mixed together. Don't add wet leaves as it could create a mold situation unless you have enough other material to soak up the moisture.
Sounds like you need to dig out the surrounds and add gravel or french drain which can be purchased at Lowe's or THD. It contains small holes for dripping water through but you need to have a collection point at the end of the drain when water runs through it.
You can also heavily tarp out the side with prevailing wind and rain to help keep the run dry.
We have the opposite problem right now - we're stinkin dry as a bone. Seems like it's feast or famine.

 

[Penpal]

The French drain pipe Bawkbok refers to is called "tile". It used to be made of tile, I think it's now made of plastic. The farmers around here tile their fields to move the water as it thaws in the spring. It is put in then forgotten. If you want to use tile, dig the ditch, put the tile in (holes facing down) and fill with gravel.

 

[paintedChix]

If you go to YouTube, type in French drain. Pops up A LOT of different vids on them. Looks like a lot of new products than a few years ago, too.

DLM can build up the interior of your run, but if actual run is flooded, really need a way to direct water around it, not just soak it up...

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are two approaches to solving a water problem. First, try to keep the water out to start with. That may mean covering it to keep rain out or diverting water so it doesn't flow inside. The other is to get the water out.

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.

This is the problem. It is a low area so water drains to it. The soil is probably an impervious material like clay so the water stands instead of soaking into the soil.

When I built my coop I built it at the bottom of a slope but in a flat area. I put a berm and swale above it to create a channel for water to flow away without getting to the coop and also put 3 or 4 inches of that soil in the bottom of my coop to make sure it was above the water level even in a heavy rain. That coop stayed very dry. I don't know if your terrain is suitable to a berm and swale system.

French Drain can mean different things to different people. The basic idea is to give the water a channel to flow to a lower spot. Basically dig a trench to a low spot and fill it with a pipe, gravel, sand, something water can travel through. Don't block the outlet so water can escape. Don't block the inlet either. If the soil is an impervious material like clay water cannot get to the drain. For this to work you have to have a low spot for it to drain to.

I have not done this to my coop or run. I had a gravel driveway that was blocking the flow of rainwater runoff so it was backing up in a low part of my yard and causing a part of that driveway to be soft and mushy. I dug a trench through my driveway and filled it with pea gravel. On the upstream side I dumped a few bags of pea gravel so the drain could collect water. That solved the problem. The driveway was no longer mushy and most of that water drained away fairly quickly after it stopped raining.

There are different solutions depending on your terrain, soil types, and other conditions. Good luck on finding yours.

 

[angeldiver]

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.

Our city gives out free mulch. We mound it up to fill our run with the mulch about once a year. It really helped with our water problem and the chickens love it!

 

[Love Donkeys]

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?

A Frence Drain is like what is called tile drainage, which is used to dry a field. It's a trench with a tube that has holes in it and it will surrounded with gravel. The water in the soil will drip into the tube which in turn will carry the unwanted ground away. It's also called "Weeping Tile".

 

[FoghornTim]

Agree, soggy runs, UGH. I have my run partially covered and that helps. I use woodchips I get from the local electric company who cuts/trims trees around power lines. They were happy to dump me a load. I use it for compost, paths and the chicken run. It helps, still some mud, but better then all mud. I do throw some straw out there too when I know we will have back to back days of no rain/snow. Hens love to pick thru it and get some grains, and it helps with the woodchips to not have as much mud.