sounds like you need your basic freedom (french) drain....

the basics of it are this.

Dig a trench 6-8 inches wide and deep enought that the bottom IS now the low
spot
The drain should slope toward the ends to drain the water away from the
building
put some stone down first
Put a perforated pvc pipe in the bottom
Cover the pipe with stone - not crush and run - you dont want the drain
holes to fill with dirt
put some wire over the end of the pipes to keep animals from living inside
it.

Basically the 1 pipe you have now is operating like a drain but to the shed
instead of away from it.

You HAVE to put the pipe in - over time without the pipe the rocks will fill
with sediment and stop the draining process.

skip the landscape fabric IMHO

PVC pipe is not that expensive
the rock is cheap IF you can move it yourself (pickup or trailer)
the ground should be easy to dig

good luck
tomatolord


"laurie (Mother Mastiff)" wrote in
message ...
My lot is all downhill, and unfortunately that's where the chicken house
is.
There is a new problem with a pipe underground that was supposed to
protect
and house an electric line (never used) that now seems to collect water
from
the yard and pour it out into the chicken house (because the top of the
pips
is lower than the level of the ground it is draining from). This alone
causes flooding and deaths in the chick pen. Hard rains like the recent
storms soak much of the chicken house and pens, and poo-laced mud is
unhealthy for the birds as well as nasty for the neighbors' delicate
noses.

I need an intelligent, inventive drainage person who is clever with
ditches
and drainage devices, can you recommend anyone? I am out of work so will
have to use my regular lawn guy for the labor, what I need is a diagnosis
and practical, usable solutions.

Desperately,

laurie (Mother Mastiff) (very worried about the young birds who are
swimming
in a lake of poo-ey mud and don't have webbed feet!)