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#1
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#2
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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. |
#3
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#4
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#5
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#6
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#7
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#8
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#9
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#10
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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. |
#11
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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 |
#12
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#13
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
#14
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Help! Need drainage specialist
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!) |
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