Drainage Problems

[Bramax]

We are new to chickens and got 4 hybrids at the start of August. All was going well until Sunday when we had some very heavy rain. We have a smallish run attached to the hen house and for most of the day the girls are confined to this, and are allowed out for about 3 hours before bedtime. We move the house and run every couple of days, but now the ground is wet the area where the house and run are becomes a mud bath within hours, so I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions short or long term to improve the drainage.

In the longer term, one thought is to lay a concrete base to put the house and run on and to cover it with wood chips. I am not sure where this idea came from and was wondering if anyone on here has tried it? We would still also need to improve the drainage in the lawn for when the girls are roaming and wondered what the best way of doing this is. Would digging a trench and filling it with sand or gravel work or do we need to put pipes in under the lawn?

In the short term I am guessing that the areas of mud we have are best left well alone. We have put netting around to keep the girls out of the muddiest bits. Is there anything we can put on it to encourage it to dry out quicker?

As we move the house and run reguarly we have areas which are wet but not yet muddy, which we need to put the chickens on shortly. Would putting wood chips or something on the wet areas before we put the chickens there stop it from becoming muddy?

Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved. Thank you.

 

[Marigold]

Just put a roof on the run. then it won't get muddy underneath and the birds will have the shelter they're going to need through the winter. Nothing heavy or expensive - just Google Plastic Tarpaulins and get a white or clear one. I've been very happy with tarps from Bradshaws at http://www.tarpaulinsdirect.co.uk and they also do a range of clips for fastening the tarps if the eyelet holes which are supplied don't come in the place you want them. If you get one that's big enough to come down the sides of the run, the birds will also have shelter from driving rain and snow, and will be a lot more comfortable.

Putting woodchip down would help a lot, but unless you had it on a paved surface, or covered the area with permeable weedproof mesh, the hens would soon just scratch up the earth into the chips, which would get wet and soggy and messy. I've found that the permeable membrane works well to keep the chippings separate from the earth, and I use rubber chippings on top, which drain easily. I think probably loose-laid paving slabs would be better for drainage than a solid concrete base as any water would drain down between the slabs.

I find that my girls are quite happy if I put them out in their moveable grass run for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and then back into their permanent run at teatime,and then I move it on every day so the grass never gets to the scratched-bare point. Let's face it, in the winter it's probably not going to be practical to let them out into the garden once the grass stops growing, so maybe they're going to need an extension to the run, and the run fixed in one place, with a suitable base + some sort of chippings, a roof over it, and some protection at the sides to stop rain blowing in.

 

[Chuck]

Depends a lot on soil type too. Clay is far and away the worst for creating a mud bath. Trenches with gravel in can be useful if the ground is on a slope which will take the water away otherwise I don't think it will do a lot of good. I have found that putting anything inor on the mud makes it worse as it just gets mixed with the mud & smells. Haven't tried what Marigold suggests i.e. membrane but sounds good also some cover for the run should help
Perhaps concrete standing for winter or when it's really wet and move it around when the weather is reasonable.

 

[foxy]

We have heavy clay soil, and the biggest problem is mud, and the fact that the grass really struggles this time of year.
We have a separate area the birds used In the winter.In this area we have dug out the soil, added a few inches of builders agregate which we then tamped down with a wacker plate to create the base. On top of this we have around 3 inches of quality wood chip. One side is edged with gravel boards with holes in and any excess water drains down to a gravel pathway which runs alongside this run and is slightly lower down. This means that we can sort out the birds without actually walking on the wet grass in the winter.

I do agree that any area you can cover will be a boon, the taupaulin link looks interesting from Marigold 17 We use the clear corrugated onduline on one of our smaller runs from B&Q, built into a frame. We are also considering the clear polycarbonate as an option too also available from B&Q..(I don't work there btw! )

 

[daniellesdogs]

it doesnt solve the mud problem but im putting some perches round the garden so they can get out of the mud also putting some pallets down if they dont want to perch. iv 19 ducks so very muddy most the year

 

[chrismahon]

Land drainage is a lot of work. Without a slope and pipework it will be short lived unless your water table is low and you add a large soakaway. A covered run or raised area are both good options. How about a raised decking area?

 

[Stapfam]

I now have a covered run 10ftx 7ft attached to the coop that has a Corrugated plastic roof over it but last year had a coop with an 8x4ft run and it was moved around the garden every couple of days. Being on Clay- I had the same problem but managed to keep it dryer by covering the run with a tarpaulin. It also extended down the windward side of the run but gave up in the end and just put 6" of chippings into the run. That was when I decided a covered run with a brick base was the way to go. It works.

And being on Clay- Drainage will be difficult and expensive.