ADVICE NEEDED: How do I stop a muddy run?

When we clean out the coop, we put the wood shavings from the coop into the run.  That keeps it from being mud, but our run is pretty much covered.  If you can cover at least part of the run to keep that section from the rain, that might help.  How about using a tarp, or just some heavy poly sheeting temporarily?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanith BHH 

 

Hi everyone... Help needed!

My hens lived in a little woodland before, well-draining with many trees to protect them from rain, and I had no problems (They were the luckiest chickens in the world!!!). I would also let them free-range around the farm that we lived on.

 

I have just moved house, and I don't have such a big area for my girls.

I have a run for my 5 hens, 5 metres by 9 metres now. There is no grass in the area and the trees overhead don't serve much in the way of shelter. I have provided 2 shelters for them, one 1 square metre, the other 3.

   

They still look as miserable as ever when I go up to see them and it's still as muddy as ever everywhere else in their run. Preferably I would like to cover the run with perspex sheeting and wood to keep the rain out but I think this is way too expensive and (maybe) difficult to do. Am I right? I haven't really researched it very fully so I could be wrong.

So my next option would be to gravel/woodchip the run, but how easy would that be?! 

I need a solution quite soon, really. All advice gratefully receaved. If anyone's got some pics to share of their solutions that would be useful too.

Thanks in advance,

 

Tanith.

      

 I am new at all this also so I would head to any of your local "Box" stores (ie: HD, L,) and get a small tarp to make a temp roof on your run.  Fix it where it can be rolled back on sunny days and the opposite on rainy days.  While there I would pick up something to put on the run.  I am just guessing here but it seems like wood chips would work well.  Just make sure it is not cedar chips. Everyone says that they are not good for your chckens. Dont know how helpful this was but I hope I helped a little.

Tritonman

Here's a fantastic link to an article about muddy runs.

Good Luck

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-fix-a-muddy-run-chicken-coop

There is an article in the Learning Center on fixing a muddy run. You can see it here: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-fix-a-muddy-run-chicken-coop.

I hope it helps!!

We we first got chickens (last year) their run was all grassy loveliness.  Now it's mud and they've eaten it down about a foot.  After wiping out in the mud (much to my kids delight) I decided to fix the problem.  Every other grub run for the chickens I buy a bale of pine shavings and put them in the run.  Now the wind blows it around at first but once it gets trampled down it's really quite good.  It absorbs the water when it rains, dries out nicely and it give the hens something to move around and find bugs in.  I know a lot of people use sand but around here it's really expensive and since our coop is up in the woods it'd be almost impossible to get sand in there. We love the pine and so do the girls.

Sand!  We're talking about an outdoor poorly drained run, right?  The cheapest thing to do would be to get a truck load of sand -- it's really not that expensive.  Personally, I would lay down a crushed rock base and then put the sand on top to create a better drainage in the pen itself.  But it wouldn't be mud, and sand is a lot cleaner anyway.  Buy the nice coarse river sand, not silica.  We had a problem this spring too with a muddy run.  However, now that we are in drought, we haven't done anything yet.  But I'm wanting to extend our run and build it larger... SO I figure when I make it bigger, we will add the sand.  :)