Castara
New member
As the phone has rung again, “ Do we do Lawn drainage”? 
12 Clients are looking at me sceptically after convincing them to buy a water storage butt in April, 02 And the word is Its gonna get wetter!! 07 A few thoughts on Flooded runs in town gardens come to mind 19 ,
An EX client of mine of recent had her run and coop flooded out , there on a bad site with an old stream running underneath, To be honest I never liked the run, always mucky , a mix of mud n straw and willow leaves from an overhanging tree ( Annoying trees , constantly dropping stuff all year and they’ll kill yer pond too !) , The area is not fully covered but with the rain of late the trouble was always going to come from below. Perhaps if the site level had been assessed better or some fore thought paid on where the water would settle, then perhaps she could have avoided a night of falling over in a slurry of chicken waste and half drowned birds , I believe she got an eye infection the next day.
Of course not everyone has the luxury of building their coop on a little hillock above the flood plains. But by getting down on your hands and knees and putting your head on the ground, and looking in all directions you can get a fair idea how the lay of your garden lies, and then if the area for you coop and run must be in a low lying depression, steps can be taken too avoid flooding , ask yourself could the area be raised above the surrounding area ( I have noticed that chickens seem determined to lower the area of their run by constantly digging ) Thus creating hollows which will be filled if the water table rises.
If you need to raise it? Perhaps a foot of Hardwood chips would get the birds out of the worst of the wet . Or can you dig the area out and add some drainage before putting the soil back Thus creating a large mound , Hard-core/Rubble/MOT Type II, is good if its down low , ( A foot or more) Or "20mm pea shingle (Gravel) And covered in something like ‘Mypex ‘ A woven plastic membrane that lets water through but not soil particles which will in time clog up your drainage material, But this must be deep . chickens are miners !! Railway sleepers are a good way of retaining a raised area if a mound is not appropriate. Or if the run floor is to be solid (concrete or paving slabs ) Does it have a 'fall' on it . The book :ugeek: says 1 in 8 , which means every 8 feet the surface drops 1 inch that allows for (Normal) rain to run off, Or if you want a ready reckoner , you want one side of the bubble on your spirit level just touching one of the the black lines.
Then there are soak aways and 'French drains' (please don't have a go , I didn't call um that ) Soak aways are long trenches that have a ‘Fall’ on them and are at least 3-4 feet deep, filled with gravel and covered with a membrane and then covered with soil , the idea is the rain water in the soil ,looking for the path of least resistance goes down and along the trenches and away rather than becoming logged in your lawn , they then can run into a 'French Drain' , Which is a big pit filled with gravel and covered with membrane and soil , these 'French drains’ ,can in extreme circumstances have a pump fitted inside a chamber within the gravel with a float switch which activates when water levels get too high , the water is then pumped away ,
Or Alternatively , Their was this bloke called Noah.................10
Anyone else got any thoughts?
12 Clients are looking at me sceptically after convincing them to buy a water storage butt in April, 02 And the word is Its gonna get wetter!! 07 A few thoughts on Flooded runs in town gardens come to mind 19 ,An EX client of mine of recent had her run and coop flooded out , there on a bad site with an old stream running underneath, To be honest I never liked the run, always mucky , a mix of mud n straw and willow leaves from an overhanging tree ( Annoying trees , constantly dropping stuff all year and they’ll kill yer pond too !) , The area is not fully covered but with the rain of late the trouble was always going to come from below. Perhaps if the site level had been assessed better or some fore thought paid on where the water would settle, then perhaps she could have avoided a night of falling over in a slurry of chicken waste and half drowned birds , I believe she got an eye infection the next day.
Of course not everyone has the luxury of building their coop on a little hillock above the flood plains. But by getting down on your hands and knees and putting your head on the ground, and looking in all directions you can get a fair idea how the lay of your garden lies, and then if the area for you coop and run must be in a low lying depression, steps can be taken too avoid flooding , ask yourself could the area be raised above the surrounding area ( I have noticed that chickens seem determined to lower the area of their run by constantly digging ) Thus creating hollows which will be filled if the water table rises.
If you need to raise it? Perhaps a foot of Hardwood chips would get the birds out of the worst of the wet . Or can you dig the area out and add some drainage before putting the soil back Thus creating a large mound , Hard-core/Rubble/MOT Type II, is good if its down low , ( A foot or more) Or "20mm pea shingle (Gravel) And covered in something like ‘Mypex ‘ A woven plastic membrane that lets water through but not soil particles which will in time clog up your drainage material, But this must be deep . chickens are miners !! Railway sleepers are a good way of retaining a raised area if a mound is not appropriate. Or if the run floor is to be solid (concrete or paving slabs ) Does it have a 'fall' on it . The book :ugeek: says 1 in 8 , which means every 8 feet the surface drops 1 inch that allows for (Normal) rain to run off, Or if you want a ready reckoner , you want one side of the bubble on your spirit level just touching one of the the black lines.
Then there are soak aways and 'French drains' (please don't have a go , I didn't call um that ) Soak aways are long trenches that have a ‘Fall’ on them and are at least 3-4 feet deep, filled with gravel and covered with a membrane and then covered with soil , the idea is the rain water in the soil ,looking for the path of least resistance goes down and along the trenches and away rather than becoming logged in your lawn , they then can run into a 'French Drain' , Which is a big pit filled with gravel and covered with membrane and soil , these 'French drains’ ,can in extreme circumstances have a pump fitted inside a chamber within the gravel with a float switch which activates when water levels get too high , the water is then pumped away ,
Or Alternatively , Their was this bloke called Noah.................
10 Anyone else got any thoughts?
Although I've smelt a few french drains that where the pits. That mistake could really get me in trouble on a design , not to mention all the french people I might offend ( wouldnt be the first time)
