Suggestions for a VERY muddy run?

[Colberon]

orchid bark!! Most commercial wood chips are tested with dangerous chemicals that prevent decomposition. Orchid bark is usually not however.

Never heard of Orchid bark, the good news is, we live in Northern Maine, which has a lot of chip mills. We have a pile of wood chips that we keep on hand, unfortunately it's under snow. We were able to solve the problem with pine shavings and pelletized bedding.

 

[Colberon]

We have alot of pine trees so we collect the fallen needles in a cart and dump them into the run. The hens love to dig for bugs in the piles, and they spread it around for us.

That's a great idea, I'll have to keep that in mind for next year!

 

[Colberon]

I live in a drained swamp (Great Black Swamp). The only thing that worked was to raise the ground in the run. We worked for over a year a bit at a time that every time we planted a tree we took the top sod and placed it into the run to grow. Eventually the run was raised 5 inches and it stays nice and dry now.

It’s a long term and long process solution that was applied along with all of the others mentioned, but it is truly flawless.

Best of luck!

Thank you for your reply, our issue is with the amount of snow melting, hopefully spring will be here soon and all the snow will be melted!

 

[Cbrown23]

I live in Northern Maine and have been away on vacation for 9 days, when I left the ground was frozen solid, but spring appears to have sprung while I was gone, resulting in my run being EXTREMELY muddy. The thaw has also thawed the feces, and now it's a mucky mess! Any suggestions on what I can put down to prevent my 6 hens from walking through the mix of mud and poo and becoming sick?

P.S. Their run is 5'x15'.

I would get pine shavings ! Now I live in northeast Georgia so we don’t deal with your exact problem, but we have had very rough storms/ tornado weather mixed with Georgia red clay. The pine chips/shavings have helped us a lot!

 

[Colberon]

As others have suggested, I like using mulch/chips. Over straw, shavings or sand. They keep the chickens up, out of the mud and muck. When they get too dirty. They can be removed and composted. A lot of places have yard waste recycling centers or street departments. Where you can still get it at no cost. Other than using your own containers and loading it yourself. Saving you from having to take a whole truck load. Or it can be purchased in bags at just about any hardware store or outdoor center.

Thank you for your reply, we keep a pile of large woodchips, but it's under snow. Next year we will keep a pile accessible for use in spring.

 

[Colberon]

Sorry i hit the post button on accident….
You could buy pelleted pine bedding. It starts out as pellets but as it absorbs moisture it turns into a saw dust consistency. My chickens love it and it keeps things fresh and dry. It’s easy to turn over. A little bit goes a long way too.

Thank you, had never heard of it until someone else suggested it. We purchased a bag and put it in the far area of the run (the sun room) and used pine shavings in the rest of the run, which helped tremendously. This weekend I plant to add more due to a lot of melting going on and water gathering again.

 

[Colberon]

I would get pine shavings ! Now I live in northeast Georgia so we don’t deal with your exact problem, but we have had very rough storms/ tornado weather mixed with Georgia red clay. The pine chips/shavings have helped us a lot!

We temporarily solved the problem with pine shavings and pelletized bedding, going to add more this weekend with all the snow melt recently.

 

[3KillerBs]

I would get pine shavings ! Now I live in northeast Georgia so we don’t deal with your exact problem, but we have had very rough storms/ tornado weather mixed with Georgia red clay. The pine chips/shavings have helped us a lot!

In Georgia I suggest pine straw.

It's not the most absorbent bedding, but it's highly resistant to packing/matting and dries out quickly on top after even the heaviest rainfall.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I've been dealing with it, too. I'm just so bleeping sick of the MUD and MUCK and STINK. Even said to the hubby just yesterday that I don't mind the cold as long as it's DRY! I've thrown down hay everywhere (free supply), and straw from a couple of broken bales, over a thick base of old wood chips already - and still the muck squishes up through the hay. Wish I could find a good free supply of wood chips; that would be better. Well, that and good drainage!

We'll be moving this summer. We are swapping houses with our son. (His family is growing and needs a bigger house, and we need a smaller house with no stairs. Win-win.) We plan to locate the coops on the highest point of the property, where he had his above-ground swimming pool over a generous base of sand. (Pool = electrical outlet and water hydrant installed already. ) So.... that and wood chips should be perfect. Hopefully, this has been my last year keeping chickens in a muddy run! Woohoo!

Thats an awesome thing to look forward to! Good luck! my covered run is big enough that i keep a pile of dry leaves smooshed in the corner. If it rains, I rake the leaves to cover the muddy location. when the rain stops, i am sure to always rake everything around so the air and sun can dry it all. I have even put pallets down in the run when it got bad. Good luck with your family house swap. Thats pretty cool. Nice memories to share.

 

[Ponypoor]

I live in Northern Maine and have been away on vacation for 9 days, when I left the ground was frozen solid, but spring appears to have sprung while I was gone, resulting in my run being EXTREMELY muddy. The thaw has also thawed the feces, and now it's a mucky mess! Any suggestions on what I can put down to prevent my 6 hens from walking through the mix of mud and poo and becoming sick?

P.S. Their run is 5'x15'.

5x15 is a small area that would be easily covered. Use 8' 2x6 spaced every 2', cross these with purlins every 2', then you can cover it with some PVC sheeting or even greenhouse panels. This way you would have a nice overhang on either side to help drain water away.

Also I would excavate down to the native soil and place about 6" to 8" of 3/4" washed crusher-run (gravel - use the washed stuff that doesn't have very small gravel which turns to mud) in there, you can still top that with your wood chips. The key is to keep it draining and dry.

I know all about mud, the horses here turn everything to mud in the Spring, I always said I prefer snow to mud- snow you can plow and move around. Mud is just a waiting game for warm dry winds to dry it all up! Good luck and let us know how you made out