Wet stinky run....

[Acre4Me]

View attachment 1632115 View attachment 1632116 Here is my coop and run...
As you can see.. it’s completely covered so all the water is coming from the surrounding ground...

Does it sit on a concrete slab, or is it just surrounded by a walkway? Assume it is built around posts that are dug into the ground?

OH (where I am) = clay soil, rain, cold, soggy ground. Also, relatively flat here. My neighbor got tired of a very muddy run, spent a few hours to haul and spread gravel (should be done when ground is dry or not muddy), and then spread hay over top. But, gravel topped with dirt will allow for drainage. Our run was a dog run in a previous life under previous owners. We lifted up all the pavers, and found nice sandy soil - very nice, and stayed pretty dry and well drained. We've since added lots of leaves and grass clippings, along with the shavings when we clean out the coop - but, currently a soggy mess - Not quite the beautiful deep litter method I envisioned! We are in the process of putting a roof over entire 50' x 10' run. It backs up to a building, so the run should be much drier at that point.

Good Luck!

 

[WhoDatChick]

Does it sit on a concrete slab, or is it just surrounded by a walkway? Assume it is built around posts that are dug into the ground?

OH (where I am) = clay soil, rain, cold, soggy ground. Also, relatively flat here. My neighbor got tired of a very muddy run, spent a few hours to haul and spread gravel (should be done when ground is dry or not muddy), and then spread hay over top. But, gravel topped with dirt will allow for drainage. Our run was a dog run in a previous life under previous owners. We lifted up all the pavers, and found nice sandy soil - very nice, and stayed pretty dry and well drained. We've since added lots of leaves and grass clippings, along with the shavings when we clean out the coop - but, currently a soggy mess - Not quite the beautiful deep litter method I envisioned! We are in the process of putting a roof over entire 50' x 10' run. It backs up to a building, so the run should be much drier at that point.

Good Luck!

Thanks! It’s just on the ground... that’s hardware cloth around the outside to prevent diggers
I’ll try to go get some wet pics now...

 

[WhoDatChick]

See what I mean
And that is actually a lot less water around it than it has been...

 

[WhoDatChick]

My poor gals! I feel so bad for them!
I think I’m gonna try and build up the dirt higher... maybe some sand.. lots more leaves and pine needles...
What about putting in bags of potting soil? Like what you use for gardening??
I’d like more wood chips but those are all saturated as well, soooo...

 

[feathermaid]

I don't think I see a gutter. What about installing a gutter and rain collection system to collect and redirect the rainwater elsewhere with a hose? Your coop/run looks pretty big, at least 12x12? or bigger? That equals a ton of roof runoff!

My roof is only 4x16 and I had a 5 gallon bucket fill up every few hours, before I had my "collection/redirection" system in place. And if I didn't keep carrying off and emptying that heavy bucket, that one corner of my run flooded because of the overflow.

Even when I had my tiny prefab with 3x8 roof and no gutter, the runoff flooded into the run. But that was such a small space that I covered the ground with a piece of plywood and piled shavings on top, just to get through rainy winter.

The ground is capable of soaking up a reasonable amount of rain, but imagine pouring an extra 5-gallon bucket of water right next to your run every hour or so. That roof water should be dealt with.


Here's my little system and it's working great so far, even though it's just a flower pot with a tiny rain chain. The hose leads about 15 feet away and connects to a soaker hose that distributes the water in my flower beds. Eventually I want to turn this into a larger collection system.

 

[Acre4Me]

View attachment 1632185 View attachment 1632186 View attachment 1632187 View attachment 1632188 View attachment 1632190 View attachment 1632191 View attachment 1632192 See what I mean
And that is actually a lot less water around it than it has been...

Wet with puddles! Now if you only had ducks!

But, since it’s not attached to ground, could it be elevated onto blocks, 4x4’s, something? Dig down a bit, add gravel, then on top of that add dirt, or deep litter, dirt and sand, etc. then the wet is under them, but able to soak into ground as usual, leaving them much drier on top.

 

[Melodychick]

I’m right up the road from you and my run looks a lot like yours right now. Fortunately the rain is supposed to stop tomorrow and maybe we can dry out a bit. My plan is to rake out the wet, and add a couple of bales of shavings for now. In the future I want to try to raise the level of the run by a few inches, though I’m not sure how just yet, sand maybe...

 

[feathermaid]

My poor gals! I feel so bad for them!
I think I’m gonna try and build up the dirt higher... maybe some sand.. lots more leaves and pine needles...
What about putting in bags of potting soil? Like what you use for gardening??
I’d like more wood chips but those are all saturated as well, soooo...

Goodness! I see what you mean. Don't add sand just yet. Maybe for a temporary quick fix you could lay down some boards or plywood sheets and then add your "dry" leaves or shavings on top. It won't keep the water from coming in, but it'll keep your chickens dry until you can create a better solution.

*edit* I say this because you know chickens are notorious scratchers and it won't take long for them to mix up all your new bedding with the mud down below. You'll just be racing to keep up with a problem you can't win... until you have time to start from scratch and keep it from happening in the first place.

 

[WhoDatChick]

I don't think I see a gutter. What about installing a gutter and rain collection system to collect and redirect the rainwater elsewhere with a hose? Your coop/run looks pretty big, at least 12x12? or bigger? That equals a ton of roof runoff!

My roof is only 4x16 and I had a 5 gallon bucket fill up every few hours, before I had my "collection/redirection" system in place. And if I didn't keep carrying off and emptying that heavy bucket, that one corner of my run flooded because of the overflow.

Even when I had my tiny prefab with 3x8 roof and no gutter, the runoff flooded into the run. But that was such a small space that I covered the ground with a piece of plywood and piled shavings on top, just to get through rainy winter.

The ground is capable of soaking up a reasonable amount of rain, but imagine pouring an extra 5-gallon bucket of water right next to your run every hour or so. That roof water should be dealt with.

View attachment 1632183
Here's my little system and it's working great so far, even though it's just a flower pot with a tiny rain chain. The hose leads about 15 feet away and connects to a soaker hose that distributes the water in my flower beds. Eventually I want to turn this into a larger collection system.

I think anything could be helpful but as you can see my coop is built next to this pump shed that gets completely surrounded with standing water when it rains... not to mention the entire yard in front of my moms home back there.. plus my whole back yard in front of the pump shed..
Obviously the real solution here is to install a whole yard drainage system ... but thank you all for some very helpful tips that I plan to implement this Saturday.. as @Melodychick mentioned.. we are headed for some dryer weather

 

[WhoDatChick]

Sorry, here are the pics...