Chickens and Flood Irrigation

Hi Everyone... long time!

 

I just bought a house on 1.6 acres in Gilbert (horse property, no HOA) that allows me to have my chickens!! Woot! But it's flood irrigated. What precautions should I take, if any, with the flood irrigation?

 

Thanks!

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  • Nice, lucky you! Your animals are gonna have a blast! I cant think of any issues with the irrigation. Would be concerned about protecting animals from predators.
  • we built the coop on an irrigated portion of our lot (my mistake) ... and have since 'dried out' that area with an enclosing berm ... it got old 'ferrying' the chickens to the Coop door for 'bedtime' during those times when the chicks were free ranging and the irrigation was too deep for them to get back to their roost prior to dark ... other than that they love the irrigation ... so do we ... and so did these 2 mallards that just 'found us' on irrigation day ...5021545681?profile=original5021545494?profile=original

    Bryan

  • I have flood irrigation. It doesn't bother my chickens; in fact they love it in the summer! I have bricks under the coop to raise it above the highest water level so it stays dry inside, and there are some dry areas in the pen. Of course, you will want to move their food dish when it floods. When I cut the grass, I put the clippings in their pen too. They eat some and love the greens & scratch around in it which seems to be fun for them ( I don't use chemicals on my lawn). The grass keeps it from getting too muddy in their pen. Straw is in the coop. Lots of bugs float up during irrigation and the chickens get a special treat!

  • I agree with Brad and Chris.  On the hot days, the birds do seem to appreciate a little wading...and grabbing the cockroaches that are trying not to drown.  ;)

     

    Just make sure they have the option of a dry place to hang out.

  • We had the same issue here in Sunburst Farms so we used railroad ties to raise the are where the coop and pen / yard went and back filled with dirt to keep them out of the water. I drilled through the ties and staked them into ground to keep them from moving around. Worked out quite well.

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