Wet stinky run....

[WhoDatChick]

Hi yall! I have a completely covered run and it has been such a lovely, non-smelly place since it was built last May... and we normally have tons of rain here but we have had a fairly dry summer and fall so the whole run was basically a giant dust bath... which the gals love.. and it NEVER smelled! Well, it has started raining... a lot! When it rains a lot my yard floods so all that water has seeped into the run and now it’s totally wet... so needless to say it smells AWFUL ... does anyone have any tips or ideas or certain materials that may help with the wet and smell? Also, since it’s all wet do I need to make them a dust bath? Thanks for any input

 

[HuffleClaw]

I’m having the same issue- following

 

[NewBoots]

@WthrLady (I think) ran a French Drain up the hill above her coop & run. And someone else here put pvc piping under their run then topped that with a gravelbed and then landscape fabric. I'm sure there was more to that one but I'd have to find the article again.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Turn it into deep litter. You'll want to research that, but essentially what you need to do is throw in as many dead leaves as you can find in there. The hens will spread them out. Basically you're making the entire run into a compost bin. No smell because the bacteria handle everything, and it grows bugs in for the hens to eat.
Make them an indoor dust bath/sandbox, or one under a roof.

 

[GldnValleyHens]

Dig out the mud and muck, which is backbreaking work. Pour in pebbles\gravel until slightly elevated. Then optional, add river sand on top. That should help. I need to do the same with my run!!!

 

[WthrLady]

Yup, the French Drain uphill was me. We deep litter mulch our run, but the coop is down hill from a whole lot of more hill, and halfway down the full hill. When we would get 3-8 inches of rain in a hurry, which happens a lot, it was running through the run. One day it actually flooded and we ended up in there with 5 gallon buckets.

Since we installed the drain uphill, the water from uphill is diverted around the coop entirely. Some moisture with deep litter is needed. A festering swamp is not.

 

[WthrLady]

Adding in, HAD we been on a level area of ground. I would have installed a french drain with geotech fabric under the run, replaced the dirt, and then done deep litter on top of it.

The girls dust bathe in the run and in the coop (Sweet PDZ) all year around.

 

[NewBoots]

Adding in, HAD we been on a level area of ground. I would have installed a french drain with geotech fabric under the run, replaced the dirt, and then done deep litter on top of it.

The girls dust bathe in the run and in the coop (Sweet PDZ) all year around.

I was sure it was you. We'll be building in the Pacific coast area and heavy rains could make soup of our run as well.

 

[getaclue]

Clean builders sand. It's expensive, but sooooo worth it in the long run.

 

[blackdog043]

Some pictures of your set up would help, so we can see what your dealing with. You need a way to divert the water from going to your run. Deep litter may be a good option for you, after you get the water under control. Use untreated wood chips and add some leaves, straw, pine cones, bigger pieces of broken branches, yard waste(including old flower bed plants). You want a good mixture of stuff so it doesn't compact down and the chickens can dig and dust bath in it. I also put some fireplace ash in my deep litter.(my run is covered)