Make sense, I'd been using sand and pine shavings in the run for almost 3 years and few weeks ago we'd been having so much winter rain so I picked up a couple of bale of straw and threw them in the run, seems that it remains soggy and muddy underneath the layers of straws.
It does. Anywhere that the animals have scattered hay or straw here I've had to rake up, as it keeps the ground underneath more soggy and soft. Shavings or wood chips will sink into the mud and firm it up more. I've got wood chips in all the pathways here for that very purpose...they are simply the best for firming up and preventing mud.