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!)

In article , laurie (Mother Mastiff) wrote:
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!)



Not having a picture leaves me a bit unsure of the situation but here
are some suggestions based on guesses.

How big is the pipe diameter? Is it solid or porous? I am assuming
solid since it was to protect wiring. How much of the flooding is from
the water through the pipe and how much is just coming down hill from
other parts of the yard? How deep is the water getting. Must be deep
to drown the chickens or are they just crowding each otherand some
getting mashed in the mud?

1. Can you plug up the pipe where the water is entering. Suggestions
are putting in a pipe plug, filling the end with concrete, just covering
it over with dirt.

That being done still means you have to divert this water around the
chicken coop or it will find its way down hill anyway and end up in the
coop. Probably not practical, but you could consider a floor for the
chicken yard to raise it above the water.

How deep is the water getting in the chicken yard? You might be able
to raise it by adding dirt or gravel. A quick and dirty floor would be
pallets on concrete blocks.

Hope some of these ideas are useful.

Would like more info on the situation since your description is a bit
sparse except the chickens are at the botton of the lot. Does the lot
then level off or go down hill past the coop?




--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

spam@www.spam.com is a garbage address.

Laurie

I don't guess moving the coop isn't an option. I had a similar situation
with a pheasant pen that was built during the drought and without thoughts
of "normal" weather. I had to install a 4" drain and cover with coarse
sand(I needed the sand for dusting anyway). I did have slope away from
flight pen and this worked rather well except for some edges around the pen
with high traffic area and lots of red clay.

Baine

"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!)

Laurie

I don't guess moving the coop isn't an option. I had a similar situation
with a pheasant pen that was built during the drought and without thoughts
of "normal" weather. I had to install a 4" drain and cover with coarse
sand(I needed the sand for dusting anyway). I did have slope away from
flight pen and this worked rather well except for some edges around the pen
with high traffic area and lots of red clay.

Baine

"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!)

Thanks, guys!

No, moving the coop is not an option. It is a former 20x30 tractor shed of
which 20x20 is the chicken house and the rest is storage, there are chicken
yards and pens on the west (uphill) side of the building, the ground is
clay, the lot continues to slope down past the chicken house, but the use of
2x4s at the bottoms of the pens to hold the wire down also catches water. I
use pine bark nuggets on the ground in the pens to catch the poo, because
when it is "used", it is so great in the garden, but in flood situations, it
all floats and plugs any drainage holes and mini ditches my poor handyman
had laboriously dug.

I use the 5x20 front hall for my youngest, most delicate or most valuable
birds, and it is literally five inches deep in pooey mud. I totally lost my
gardening clogs in it today! While much of the water in the front hall came
from the pipe, a lot also came across the yard, under the tractor shed area,
under the wall, and into the front hall and main room of the laying house.

A friend came over today and dug up the end of the pipe (apparently run
BESIDE the electric line to run future lines through, if desired). He
plugged the end with waterproof cement. The ground is so saturated, he hit
water long before he found the pipe, and he had a heck of a time cutting the
unwanted pipe off outside the building to plug it. Says it is going to take
10 yards of river gravel and a lot of pipe and landscape fabric, but that he
could put in a drainage ditch that would divert the runoff from the yard
safely past the chicken house.

Going to cost more than my first three vehicles. And I have been out of
work a while due to the economy.

Anyone want to hire a very good technical writer and web
designer/maintainer?

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

"Baine Carruthers" wrote in message
...
Laurie

I don't guess moving the coop isn't an option. I had a similar situation
with a pheasant pen that was built during the drought and without thoughts
of "normal" weather. I had to install a 4" drain and cover with coarse
sand(I needed the sand for dusting anyway). I did have slope away from
flight pen and this worked rather well except for some edges around the
pen
with high traffic area and lots of red clay.

Baine

"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!)

Thanks, guys!

No, moving the coop is not an option. It is a former 20x30 tractor shed of
which 20x20 is the chicken house and the rest is storage, there are chicken
yards and pens on the west (uphill) side of the building, the ground is
clay, the lot continues to slope down past the chicken house, but the use of
2x4s at the bottoms of the pens to hold the wire down also catches water. I
use pine bark nuggets on the ground in the pens to catch the poo, because
when it is "used", it is so great in the garden, but in flood situations, it
all floats and plugs any drainage holes and mini ditches my poor handyman
had laboriously dug.

I use the 5x20 front hall for my youngest, most delicate or most valuable
birds, and it is literally five inches deep in pooey mud. I totally lost my
gardening clogs in it today! While much of the water in the front hall came
from the pipe, a lot also came across the yard, under the tractor shed area,
under the wall, and into the front hall and main room of the laying house.

A friend came over today and dug up the end of the pipe (apparently run
BESIDE the electric line to run future lines through, if desired). He
plugged the end with waterproof cement. The ground is so saturated, he hit
water long before he found the pipe, and he had a heck of a time cutting the
unwanted pipe off outside the building to plug it. Says it is going to take
10 yards of river gravel and a lot of pipe and landscape fabric, but that he
could put in a drainage ditch that would divert the runoff from the yard
safely past the chicken house.

Going to cost more than my first three vehicles. And I have been out of
work a while due to the economy.

Anyone want to hire a very good technical writer and web
designer/maintainer?

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

"Baine Carruthers" wrote in message
...
Laurie

I don't guess moving the coop isn't an option. I had a similar situation
with a pheasant pen that was built during the drought and without thoughts
of "normal" weather. I had to install a 4" drain and cover with coarse
sand(I needed the sand for dusting anyway). I did have slope away from
flight pen and this worked rather well except for some edges around the
pen
with high traffic area and lots of red clay.

Baine

"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!)

Thanks, guys!

No, moving the coop is not an option. It is a former 20x30 tractor shed of
which 20x20 is the chicken house and the rest is storage, there are chicken
yards and pens on the west (uphill) side of the building, the ground is
clay, the lot continues to slope down past the chicken house, but the use of
2x4s at the bottoms of the pens to hold the wire down also catches water. I
use pine bark nuggets on the ground in the pens to catch the poo, because
when it is "used", it is so great in the garden, but in flood situations, it
all floats and plugs any drainage holes and mini ditches my poor handyman
had laboriously dug.

I use the 5x20 front hall for my youngest, most delicate or most valuable
birds, and it is literally five inches deep in pooey mud. I totally lost my
gardening clogs in it today! While much of the water in the front hall came
from the pipe, a lot also came across the yard, under the tractor shed area,
under the wall, and into the front hall and main room of the laying house.

A friend came over today and dug up the end of the pipe (apparently run
BESIDE the electric line to run future lines through, if desired). He
plugged the end with waterproof cement. The ground is so saturated, he hit
water long before he found the pipe, and he had a heck of a time cutting the
unwanted pipe off outside the building to plug it. Says it is going to take
10 yards of river gravel and a lot of pipe and landscape fabric, but that he
could put in a drainage ditch that would divert the runoff from the yard
safely past the chicken house.

Going to cost more than my first three vehicles. And I have been out of
work a while due to the economy.

Anyone want to hire a very good technical writer and web
designer/maintainer?

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

"Baine Carruthers" wrote in message
...
Laurie

I don't guess moving the coop isn't an option. I had a similar situation
with a pheasant pen that was built during the drought and without thoughts
of "normal" weather. I had to install a 4" drain and cover with coarse
sand(I needed the sand for dusting anyway). I did have slope away from
flight pen and this worked rather well except for some edges around the
pen
with high traffic area and lots of red clay.

Baine

"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!)

Carlos or Pablo Hernandez 919-427-8137

Laurie, these are the guys to call if you want someone other than your
landscaper to do the work. In the last 2 years they've done at least
a half dozen jobs for me including excavation, grading, drainage,
retaining wall, cement work and a paver patio. Their finish grading
work is the best I've ever seen. They're good guys and they take great
pride in doing their work well.

--Keith


[posted and mailed]

"laurie \(Mother Mastiff\)" wrote in
:

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!)

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!)

In article , laurie (Mother Mastiff) wrote:
Thanks, guys!

No, moving the coop is not an option. It is a former 20x30 tractor shed of
which 20x20 is the chicken house and the rest is storage, there are chicken
yards and pens on the west (uphill) side of the building, the ground is
clay, the lot continues to slope down past the chicken house, but the use of
2x4s at the bottoms of the pens to hold the wire down also catches water. I
use pine bark nuggets on the ground in the pens to catch the poo, because
when it is "used", it is so great in the garden, but in flood situations, it
all floats and plugs any drainage holes and mini ditches my poor handyman
had laboriously dug.

I use the 5x20 front hall for my youngest, most delicate or most valuable
birds, and it is literally five inches deep in pooey mud. I totally lost my
gardening clogs in it today! While much of the water in the front hall came
from the pipe, a lot also came across the yard, under the tractor shed area,
under the wall, and into the front hall and main room of the laying house.


While the diversion will take care of most of the water it won't affect
what comes off the shed and what falls on the pen itself. Another two
yards of gravel would raise the 5X20 area by 6 inches. But you might
only need 3 inches or a portion of it raised to get the birdsw out of
the 5 inches of mud.


A friend came over today and dug up the end of the pipe (apparently run
BESIDE the electric line to run future lines through, if desired). He
plugged the end with waterproof cement. The ground is so saturated, he hit
water long before he found the pipe, and he had a heck of a time cutting the
unwanted pipe off outside the building to plug it. Says it is going to take
10 yards of river gravel and a lot of pipe and landscape fabric, but that he
could put in a drainage ditch that would divert the runoff from the yard
safely past the chicken house.

Going to cost more than my first three vehicles. And I have been out of
work a while due to the economy.

Anyone want to hire a very good technical writer and web
designer/maintainer?

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

"Baine Carruthers" wrote in message
...
Laurie

I don't guess moving the coop isn't an option. I had a similar situation
with a pheasant pen that was built during the drought and without thoughts
of "normal" weather. I had to install a 4" drain and cover with coarse
sand(I needed the sand for dusting anyway). I did have slope away from
flight pen and this worked rather well except for some edges around the
pen
with high traffic area and lots of red clay.

Baine

"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!)









--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

spam@www.spam.com is a garbage address.

Thanks, guys!

The friend who came over recommended French drains. Wish his truck was big
enough to handle loads of gravel. I will call the Hernandez brothers too,
Keith.

laurie

Laurie,

Two things came to mind just now: What about using something other than
2x4" to "hold the wire down" -- something like "earth staples," maybe
(used to anchor floating row cover) so the water would flow over.

Also, is it only the chicken manure that floats -- or does the pine bark
nugget mulch also float??? In which case, you might try removing the mulch
entirely, or at least pushing it aside.

I realize that these are by no means permanent solutions, but they might
give you -- and the chickens -- a respite while you figure out a
solution.

{{{{Laurie}}}}

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh



"laurie (Mother Mastiff)" wrote in
message ...
Thanks, guys!

No, moving the coop is not an option. It is a former 20x30 tractor shed
of
which 20x20 is the chicken house and the rest is storage, there are
chicken
yards and pens on the west (uphill) side of the building, the ground is
clay, the lot continues to slope down past the chicken house, but the use
of
2x4s at the bottoms of the pens to hold the wire down also catches water.
I
use pine bark nuggets on the ground in the pens to catch the poo, because
when it is "used", it is so great in the garden, but in flood situations,
it
all floats and plugs any drainage holes and mini ditches my poor handyman
had laboriously dug.

I use the 5x20 front hall for my youngest, most delicate or most valuable
birds, and it is literally five inches deep in pooey mud. I totally lost
my
gardening clogs in it today! While much of the water in the front hall
came
from the pipe, a lot also came across the yard, under the tractor shed
area,
under the wall, and into the front hall and main room of the laying house.

A friend came over today and dug up the end of the pipe (apparently run
BESIDE the electric line to run future lines through, if desired). He
plugged the end with waterproof cement. The ground is so saturated, he
hit
water long before he found the pipe, and he had a heck of a time cutting
the
unwanted pipe off outside the building to plug it. Says it is going to
take
10 yards of river gravel and a lot of pipe and landscape fabric, but that
he
could put in a drainage ditch that would divert the runoff from the yard
safely past the chicken house.

Going to cost more than my first three vehicles. And I have been out of
work a while due to the economy.

Anyone want to hire a very good technical writer and web
designer/maintainer?

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

"Baine Carruthers" wrote in message
...
Laurie

I don't guess moving the coop isn't an option. I had a similar
situation
with a pheasant pen that was built during the drought and without
thoughts
of "normal" weather. I had to install a 4" drain and cover with coarse
sand(I needed the sand for dusting anyway). I did have slope away from
flight pen and this worked rather well except for some edges around the
pen
with high traffic area and lots of red clay.

Baine

"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!)

Thanks, Anne, tomorrow my poor handyman will shovel stinky mud all day.

In normal conditions, pine bark with poop on it is a wonderful addition to
the garden, and not much of a problem with normal rainfalls. In an
abnormally rainy year, it floats and the poop makes the mud reek and grows
flies.

Poor chickens!

Thanks for the hugs, it's been quite a week and it won't be over till
several major things are fixed (only one of which is the runoff!)

laurie

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
om...
Laurie,

Two things came to mind just now: What about using something other than
2x4" to "hold the wire down" -- something like "earth staples," maybe
(used to anchor floating row cover) so the water would flow over.

Also, is it only the chicken manure that floats -- or does the pine bark
nugget mulch also float??? In which case, you might try removing the
mulch
entirely, or at least pushing it aside.

I realize that these are by no means permanent solutions, but they might
give you -- and the chickens -- a respite while you figure out a
solution.

{{{{Laurie}}}}

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh



"laurie (Mother Mastiff)" wrote in
message ...
Thanks, guys!

No, moving the coop is not an option. It is a former 20x30 tractor shed
of
which 20x20 is the chicken house and the rest is storage, there are
chicken
yards and pens on the west (uphill) side of the building, the ground is
clay, the lot continues to slope down past the chicken house, but the
use
of
2x4s at the bottoms of the pens to hold the wire down also catches
water.
I
use pine bark nuggets on the ground in the pens to catch the poo,
because
when it is "used", it is so great in the garden, but in flood
situations,
it
all floats and plugs any drainage holes and mini ditches my poor
handyman
had laboriously dug.

I use the 5x20 front hall for my youngest, most delicate or most
valuable
birds, and it is literally five inches deep in pooey mud. I totally
lost
my
gardening clogs in it today! While much of the water in the front hall
came
from the pipe, a lot also came across the yard, under the tractor shed
area,
under the wall, and into the front hall and main room of the laying
house.

A friend came over today and dug up the end of the pipe (apparently run
BESIDE the electric line to run future lines through, if desired). He
plugged the end with waterproof cement. The ground is so saturated, he
hit
water long before he found the pipe, and he had a heck of a time cutting
the
unwanted pipe off outside the building to plug it. Says it is going to
take
10 yards of river gravel and a lot of pipe and landscape fabric, but
that
he
could put in a drainage ditch that would divert the runoff from the yard
safely past the chicken house.

Going to cost more than my first three vehicles. And I have been out of
work a while due to the economy.

Anyone want to hire a very good technical writer and web
designer/maintainer?

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

"Baine Carruthers" wrote in message
...
Laurie

I don't guess moving the coop isn't an option. I had a similar
situation
with a pheasant pen that was built during the drought and without
thoughts
of "normal" weather. I had to install a 4" drain and cover with
coarse
sand(I needed the sand for dusting anyway). I did have slope away
from
flight pen and this worked rather well except for some edges around
the
pen
with high traffic area and lots of red clay.

Baine

"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!)

Thanks, Anne, tomorrow my poor handyman will shovel stinky mud all day.

In normal conditions, pine bark with poop on it is a wonderful addition to
the garden, and not much of a problem with normal rainfalls. In an
abnormally rainy year, it floats and the poop makes the mud reek and grows
flies.

Poor chickens!

Thanks for the hugs, it's been quite a week and it won't be over till
several major things are fixed (only one of which is the runoff!)

laurie

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
om...
Laurie,

Two things came to mind just now: What about using something other than
2x4" to "hold the wire down" -- something like "earth staples," maybe
(used to anchor floating row cover) so the water would flow over.

Also, is it only the chicken manure that floats -- or does the pine bark
nugget mulch also float??? In which case, you might try removing the
mulch
entirely, or at least pushing it aside.

I realize that these are by no means permanent solutions, but they might
give you -- and the chickens -- a respite while you figure out a
solution.

{{{{Laurie}}}}

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh



"laurie (Mother Mastiff)" wrote in
message ...
Thanks, guys!

No, moving the coop is not an option. It is a former 20x30 tractor shed
of
which 20x20 is the chicken house and the rest is storage, there are
chicken
yards and pens on the west (uphill) side of the building, the ground is
clay, the lot continues to slope down past the chicken house, but the
use
of
2x4s at the bottoms of the pens to hold the wire down also catches
water.
I
use pine bark nuggets on the ground in the pens to catch the poo,
because
when it is "used", it is so great in the garden, but in flood
situations,
it
all floats and plugs any drainage holes and mini ditches my poor
handyman
had laboriously dug.

I use the 5x20 front hall for my youngest, most delicate or most
valuable
birds, and it is literally five inches deep in pooey mud. I totally
lost
my
gardening clogs in it today! While much of the water in the front hall
came
from the pipe, a lot also came across the yard, under the tractor shed
area,
under the wall, and into the front hall and main room of the laying
house.

A friend came over today and dug up the end of the pipe (apparently run
BESIDE the electric line to run future lines through, if desired). He
plugged the end with waterproof cement. The ground is so saturated, he
hit
water long before he found the pipe, and he had a heck of a time cutting
the
unwanted pipe off outside the building to plug it. Says it is going to
take
10 yards of river gravel and a lot of pipe and landscape fabric, but
that
he
could put in a drainage ditch that would divert the runoff from the yard
safely past the chicken house.

Going to cost more than my first three vehicles. And I have been out of
work a while due to the economy.

Anyone want to hire a very good technical writer and web
designer/maintainer?

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

"Baine Carruthers" wrote in message
...
Laurie

I don't guess moving the coop isn't an option. I had a similar
situation
with a pheasant pen that was built during the drought and without
thoughts
of "normal" weather. I had to install a 4" drain and cover with
coarse
sand(I needed the sand for dusting anyway). I did have slope away
from
flight pen and this worked rather well except for some edges around
the
pen
with high traffic area and lots of red clay.

Baine

"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!)