Managing Flooding and Waterlogging on Poultry Farms

Waterlogging and flash flooding are different problems

Most farm floods in Ghana do not arrive as a wave. They arrive as a drain that stops working, then a yard that stays wet for three days, then a storm that pushes the water over the step and into the house. Those three stages need different responses, and farmers who treat them as one event often get the middle one wrong.

Waterlogging is the slow problem. The ground stays saturated, the litter takes up water and stops drying, and the air inside the house fills with ammonia and damp. The birds do not drown, but they get wet feet, cold chests and sore hocks, and disease pressure climbs week by week. Our rainy-season guide covers that slow problem in detail.

Flash flooding is the fast one. Water comes into the house in hours, sometimes over the floor, sometimes up through walls that have wicked it from the ground. It puts the electrics at risk, soaks the feed in the store, drowns chicks in an open brooder and drives the flock into the corners where they pile up. This article is about that second problem, and about the first 48 hours after the water arrives.

Find the flood line before the rain does

Your flood line is the height water will reach in a bad storm, and you can find it on foot in the dry season. Walk the plot with a stick and a tape. Look for old tide marks on walls, debris caught in fences, mud lines on tree trunks and the path the water took across the yard last time. Ask the neighbours, especially the older ones who remember the last big rains. Then check the road, because a house built below the level of the road will take the road's water.

Write the height down, and compare it with the floor level of the house, the feed store, the brooder and the electrical board. Anything below the flood line should be moved, raised or protected. A raised floor is the cheapest decision you will ever make on a farm, but only if you make it before the house is built, not after the first flood.

The table is a walk-round sheet. Take it to the plot and tick each row as you go.

Switch the power off at the main before anyone wades in

The first job in a flood is the one nobody wants to do in the dark. Switch the power off at the main board, not at a wall socket, and look at the board before you touch anything. Water and mains electricity are a lethal mix. A wet fan, a standing pump or a cable lying in a puddle can kill a person who steps into it.

If the board is under water, do not go near it. Call the Electricity Company of Ghana and your electrician, and tell them there is standing water at the premises. Do not re-energise the farm until an electrician has inspected the wiring, the sockets and the motors. A motor that has been under water needs drying and testing before it runs, because a pump that starts wet will fail on the next start.

Generators follow the same rule. Do not place the set in a flooded corner or run it in a closed room, and never connect it to the house wiring while the mains is live. Our generator guide covers the changeover switch. The principle is simple: no two supplies on the same wiring at the same time.

Moving the birds before the water reaches them

If the forecast is bad and the yard is already holding water, move the birds early. Waiting until the water is at the door is how farms lose chicks in a pile in the corner. Move birds in the dry hours if you can, and move them to a house, shed or raised enclosure that you have already checked. An empty house on higher ground with a dry floor is worth more than the best house on the wrong side of the road.

Chicks need the most care. A day-old chick in a flooded brooder chills quickly, and a chilled chick piles up and suffocates. Where possible, move the whole box rather than handling each chick. Keep the lid on, cover the box, and keep the chicks warm with a heater you have tested first. Transport only in ventilated boxes, and do not cram them in.

Mature birds should move in small groups, with one person at each end of the route. Catch them quietly, carry them in crates, and count each crate as it goes out and again as it comes in. A panicked flock that runs into water is hard to recover. Our chick piling guide describes what to watch for in a cold, crowded box.

The first two days: count, feed and water once the water drops

Once the water has gone down and the power is back on under an electrician's eye, count the birds before anything else. Count every house, every crate and every group, and write the numbers on the sheet with the time. The count tells you how many birds are alive, how many you have lost and whether the losses are still rising. Without it, you will be arguing with yourself about the loss for the rest of the month.

Feed is the next job, and it is the one most farmers get wrong. Sacks that stood in water are finished. Feed that has taken up water goes mouldy within days, and some moulds produce toxins that damage the liver and weaken the immune system. Discard wet feed, keep the sacks you can save on pallets, and dry the store before you restack. Our feed storage guide covers mould and toxins in depth.

Water needs the same care. Flood water carries mud, faeces and whatever it picked up on the way in, so birds must not drink it. Clean the drinkers and the header tank, flush the lines, and use a source you trust. If you have a borehole or a tank that was not flooded, use it. If you do not, get a clean supply to the house before the birds drink again.

Dead birds, carcasses and the disease that follows the water

A flood leaves dead birds in the house, in the yard and in the drains. Remove them the same day. A carcass left in standing water spreads infection, draws flies and makes the next count harder. Bury carcasses in a pit dug above the flood line, or use the method your district vet recommends, and never bury in a pit that will fill with water when the rains return. Our dead bird disposal guide sets out the options.

Watch the flock closely for the next two weeks. Wet litter and damp, cold conditions bring coccidiosis, respiratory disease and bacterial infections that were already in the house but were held back by dry conditions. Count the deaths each morning and write them down with the signs you saw, such as huddling, drooping wings, diarrhoea or bloody droppings. If the deaths keep climbing, call your district vet the same day. Follow the vet's advice on any treatment, and do not dose the flock on a guess.

Report any unusual or sudden cluster of deaths to the Veterinary Services Directorate or your district veterinary office. Early reporting protects your flock and your neighbours', and it is the first step for any question about support. Rules and amounts change, so ask the vet office what applies now rather than relying on what you heard before.

Wet litter, mould and rebuilding the floor

The litter that was in the house during the flood is not worth keeping. Shovel out all of it, including the damp patches under the drinkers, and carry it to a compost heap away from the house. Our composting guide shows how to treat it so that it is safe to spread on the field later.

Then dry the house. Open every door and window in dry weather, and use fans if there is power. Let the floor dry for at least two days before new litter goes down, and check the walls for wet patches that wicked water from the ground. A house that goes straight back to full litter on a damp floor will be wet again within a week.

Clean and disinfect the house, feeders, drinkers and crates before the next flock arrives. The steps are the same as between batches, so use the routine you already follow, and follow the disinfectant label and your vet's advice. Our cleaning guide sets out the routine step by step.

A worked example: one 600-bird house after a night of rain

Here is a worked example with made-up but realistic figures, so you can run the same sums for your own farm. A 600-bird broiler house at day 35 sits on a corner of the plot that was marked as low in the dry season. Overnight rain fills the yard and puts about six centimetres of water across the floor at the low end. Three 50 kilogram sacks of feed sit on the floor, and the drinkers hang on a line from the header tank.

The first sum is the feed. Three sacks at 50 kilograms each is 150 kilograms, and if the water reached the sacks, all of it is lost. At the feed rate your batch uses, that is several days of feed, and replacing it is an unplanned cost that comes straight off the margin. The second sum is the birds. Suppose the morning count shows 14 dead in the low end of the house, with the rest huddled and wet. That is a loss of just over two per cent. It is a bad morning, but the next two days will show whether it is the start of a run.

The third sum is time. Clearing the litter, drying the floor, rebuilding the feed store and cleaning the drinkers takes two working days for one person and a helper. If the farm has to pay that labour and cannot sell feed or birds in the same week, the true cost of one wet night is the margin lost on the batch plus the work pushed back. Write each number on the sheet, so next season you can see whether raising the feed store would have paid for itself.

Records and photos for the insurer, the bank and yourself

Take photographs before anything is cleaned. Photograph the water line on the wall, the flooded floor, the feed sacks, the dead birds where they lie and the drains that backed up. A timestamp on each photo is worth more than any written description. Keep the receipts for repairs and replacement feed, and write down the labour hours your helpers put in.

If you hold a policy, read what it covers and what it leaves out, and call the insurer early. Many policies set conditions on notice and proof of loss, and a late claim is harder to settle. Our insurance guide sets out the questions to ask before you sign. Do not assume any particular payout, because the terms vary by policy and by insurer.

Keep the same records for the bank. A lender who sees a clear loss sheet, with photographs and a rebuilt plan, will talk to you about restocking. A sheet that is missing its dates and counts gives the lender little to work with, and gives you little to prove a loss to a buyer who wants a replacement batch.

Planning for the next rains, not the last ones

In southern Ghana the major rains usually run from about April or May into July, with a smaller season from about September to November. The timing shifts from year to year, so do not rely on the date alone. Walk the plot and clear the drains before each season starts, check the gutters after the first heavy storm, and move the feed store to the highest point you can reach.

Think about the chick order too. A batch that arrives on the day of a heavy storm is a batch you will fight for in its first week. If the forecast for the first days of a batch is bad, ask whether a later date is possible, and have the brooder dry and warm before the box comes in. Our rainy-season guide sets out the wet-season routine.

Checklist for a flood week

Keep this on the noticeboard, not only on the phone, because the phone may be under water too.

1. Power switched off at the main, with the board checked before anyone touches it.
2. Birds and day-old chicks moved to a dry, checked house before the water reaches them.
3. Feed sacks lifted off the floor, with wet feed set aside for disposal.
4. Count taken for every house, crate and group, timed and written on the sheet.
5. Dead birds removed the same day and disposed of above the flood line.
6. Drinkers and header tank cleaned before the flock drinks again.
7. Vet's number checked, with a second contact written on the noticeboard.
8. Photographs taken before cleaning, with timestamps.
9. Insurer or bank told within the time the policy requires.
10. Deaths counted each morning for the next two weeks, with the signs written beside them.

The review that changes the next plan

When the house is dry and the flock has settled, sit down and write the review while the details are fresh. Which part of the yard flooded first? Where did the water enter the house? What was lost, and what could have been moved in time? Which decision would you change, and which one saved the most birds? Those four answers are the start of a better flood plan.

Then update the flood line on your plot drawing. Raise the feed store, move the brooder or the power board if the review says so, and fix the drain that backed up. Pay for that work before the next season, not after. Our site selection guide sets out the questions to ask about a new plot, which is worth reading if the current site cannot be protected.

When you restock, do it in a house you have checked against the flood line. If you need replacement chicks, WhatsApp us on +233 24 915 1503 or use the order form. Our broiler chicks page lists the box sizes, and the delivery page explains how chicks reach your region, with the delivery cost confirmed before you pay.

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