El nino, weird or what?

[buckabucka]

Sounds like quite a mess @moxies_chickienuggets .

One winter we had a lot of snow, and then 50's and a lot of rain in January. I went out to the hoop coop to find the chickens wading in 8 inches of water! I filled the coop with all kinds of pallets, plywood on tires, anything to create dry surfaces.

The water receded that day, but all the pallets froze to the ground before the mud dried up. The rest of the winter I was navigating an obstacle course, while the chickens lived in a wooden playground.

Now I've built a berm of earth around the hoop coop, which helps keep snow melt out of there. It has turned to winter here, -snowing as I write.

 

[Just-Moxie]

I had already tossed in a whole straw bale last month to get them up out of the water. It is now a rotted mess. Too much to keep putting straw, when it needs drainage. I am out there 2 to 3x a day, so I can at least monitor the situation.

 

[Beekissed]

Here in SC we have been having rain, temps in the 70's daytime, 60's night time, and my rose bush and clematis are happily blooming away.
We have so much mud out there right now, I had to dig out my muck boots to get to the 3 pens to do chicken chores.
The back smaller pen, a chain link dog kennel, is mired in mud. People in the Midlands and Upstate SC are now having septic tank issues, as the leach fields are no longer able to do their job. Ours makes funny noises when I am out back by that one pen. DH had to get his Kubota out the other day and hook up the potato plow...and plow the yard up to see if it would help the drainage. It didn't. He got the furrow going the wrong way and it backed the water up in that area more.

The 6 chickens in that pen are walking in mud right now, and it is so muddy that there is no way to relocate that pen. We had moved their chicken tractor to the back of the pen, so they could get up out of the mud. Now it is stuck there till it dries out. Rooster right outside the bedroom window. He likes to crow at 3 am

Now's a good time to be thinking of a deep litter system in your coop and runs. A good foot deep litter pack would be a huge bonus right now.

Know anybody with wood chips or leaves they could share? I don't mean just a little...I mean a foot deep of wood chip, yard debris, leaves, etc. That wicks moisture away from the surface and leaves the mud way, way below. Also helps open up the soil below so it absorbs more rain.

Weird weather is here to stay, it seems, so no time like the present to change up how we do chicken habitats. Can you get your hands on any good material?

Note: I'd avoid anything that is all one particle size like straw, hay, etc. A goodly mixture of types and sizes of material seem to drain and pack better than long strands or all one type of material.

 

[Just-Moxie]

I have been using deep litter in all of the pens/runs since 2012. It works great!..till it gets soaked and turns to ammonia. Right now, we have water seeping up through the concrete floor in the main coop. This coming weekend, we are going to be scooping it out and putting down fresh straw. I am not sure what to do in the back pen at the moment.
No, I don't know anyone here who would have a wood chipper or a huge pile of wood chips to spare.
Wood chips would be the best application in the back run for now. I agree.

At this point, I have two poor quality pallets. One isn't even complete. Just a partial pallet that DH's air compressor was shipped on. They are on the far side of the acre though, and require the help of the kubota. DH has been trying to get the drainage worked out....but right now...the tires just mire down.

This years rains...excessive rains....have required me to empty the main coop out 3 times already. Allowing it to dry as much as possible. Then putting fresh straw in.
Right now, I am having to put the feeder and waterer inside a kiddie pool inside the main coop. Just to keep the feed from getting wet and moldy. I had to discontinue using fermented feed for now, as there was no place to feed it. Things are already a horrible mess here.

 

[Beekissed]

I think the materials used might be a factor. By deep litter I don't mean deep bedding, but actual composting litter that forms a pack that can act as a reservoir for excess moisture. Granted, what you are getting now exceeds even excessive, though straw is not a great choice for litter even in the best of circumstances....doesn't absorb, takes a long time to break down fully and while doing so can emit some high ammonia smells...as does pine shavings.

I wish you could get your hands on something a little more absorptive and substantial than straw....

 

[Just-Moxie]

The first year and a half, the deep litter straw, composted beautifully in the coop. It has only been since we have had the excessive rains that it has been a problem. With flooding. Anything in the coop right now will get flooded.

 

[digitS']

See, you all need glacier till ... Nah, 50% gravel won't help enough when there is a ton of soaked organic material on top of it.

I have a coop that was originally intended for pigeons. There is a wood floor with 1/2 an indoor room and 1/2 an outdoor room. I called the outdoor room a "porch" after the chickens came to occupy it.

Outdoor activity was either free-range or in a movable pen.

A little rain could blow in under the "porch" roof but that's not too much of a problem here. To give you an idea about our precipitation lately:

It snowed continuously from noon on Sunday until 3pm Monday. I'd say, 1 1/2 inches was added to what was already here. That's not water, that's snow ... so, about 2/10" of actual water ...

Humidity was above 90% most of the time so my digitS' aren't splitting, hair isn't sticking straight out, and I haven't shocked myself from static electricity just walking across the rug! Of course, it's really coming down again! I think if there was a breeze, I wouldn't really be able to see the snow flakes.

Steve
under horrid blizzard conditions & 26ºF ...

 

[thistlebloom]

Huh.... I'm just getting a little dandruff like what came down yesterday.
I'm okay with letting what we have get a little stale before we get a fresh delivery. Today I'll be digging the berm out from the front of the garage. It gets so much harder to move the longer it sits. I also have to shovel a new path to the straw stack, the ponies are needing a bedding change. The tree that busted is laying in my usual way. Oh joy. At least it's pretty good exercise.

 

[Smart Red]

We survived the night and actually surprised myself by getting out for DH's breakfast this morning. No power outage for me! The news reports that over 30,000 in the area are with out power since last night.

I figure the fact that we kept power is due to having been prepared for an outage. Water in the tub, fresh water in jugs, etc. just in case. DS, Maverick, and DH are out shoveling right now. Hopefully the drive will be cleaned. The driveway was the worst part of getting to town and I'd never have made it back in the driveway if DS hadn't already done some of the snow removal before we got back.

I stood firm and refused to go into town last night for supper. I had homemade chicken soup but DH refused to eat anything and went to bed at 4:00 pm. I refuse to go to bed before 8:00 because tenants often call or stop by until that time. Even 8 is too early for me. I would much prefer 10:00 at the earliest, but DH is a nervous wreck if I'm not there with him.

At 7, DH appeared all dressed and intent upon going outside to shovel. The last time he did that was when we had our 8 inch drop. Then he came in all sweaty and had some sort of "seizure". I didn't want him going out in the dark to shovel. Called DS. He said to let him shovel a while and offer some warm coffee to get him in. Finally, DS said he'd drive all the way out from town on bad roads to shovel unless DH came in. DH did quit then and came in. This time he was not all sweaty and had no problems.

He's been out shoveling with son and the grands this morning and doing well. This snow is lighter, only 2 inches or less, and wouldn't be a problem at all if not for the ice covering it. DH is in his glory when he is working and both DS and I realize we've taken away most of the work DH used to do. This is probably good for him.

 

[bobm]

As of 6:00 PM last evening the rain gauge at the Portland International Airport shows that we now have a record amount of rainfall at exactly 15" for the MONTH of Dec. The old record was 13.4" set about 20 years ago. Light rain is falling now and the forcast is for showers for the rest of the week.