How To Fix A Muddy Run Chicken Coop

That was well done.

We've had good luck laying down a piece of permeable landscape fabric and then covering it with inches of coase gravel. Without the landscape fabric the gravel will just be squished down into the mud when people walk on it. The fabric sort of makes the gravel "float" on top of the mud. With coarse gravel (two inch chunks) the birds can't scratch it away very well and do not dig down to the fabric. If the coarse gravel is hard on the feet then put smaller gravel, roof chip or sand on top to fill in the voids and make a smooth surface.

Sometimes, doing the work in the dry season makes it difficult to know if you have done enough. If you can build up the floor well enough to be dry when working in the wet season then you'll be good.... at least for a while. If the traffic eventually makes it muddy again we just repeat with a second piece of fabric and a second layer of gravel. The more layers you add the more stable it will be.

lots of good info

A great post with very useful info that is so topical at this time of year in Australia - Thank you. Funnily enough, I was out at my coop last night filling it with grass cuttings as the spring rain was coming today.

Very helpful advice, thank you.

Thank you for this!! Great article, and extremely helpful.

A great article written by someone with vast experience and techniques for solving a problem many of us face. Suggestions for immediate action and permanent fixes are very helpful. Materials are covered for efficiency, cost and endurance.
An article worth tagging for reviewing before new structures are sited and/or built.

this is very good and wise

some good ideas to try

I've tried most of these, but a couple give me hope again! I also live in rock and clay. The henhouse is elevated, but the pallets rot in no time from the wetness. Pavers get covered with dirt by the hens. and they all make holes around the perimeters of a large fenced area with a wire roof. (lots of raptors in my area) You've got me thinking about more possibilities!
I have had 2 roosters that got bumblefoot. For one, I fed him medicated chick feed and it cleared up slowly! He couldn't even roost at first, but you can't tell anymore after a year.

Thank you, I shall refer to this if my chicken run ever becomes overwhelmed with water.

Good article. We're fortunate in having soil that drains well. We also have interconnected runs that are pretty large (for nearly 40 birds). One is totally denuded, but the two others are full of weeds -- and that's where the birds like to hang out, in the cool shade and shielded from raptors.
To build up the soil (and provide the birds with some fun), I've raked huge piles of leaves into the bare run, dumped mulch hay there, or even dumped old littler from their coop, the latter containing lots of wood shavings. Going the sand/gravel route, while a great idea, would be expensive for us because of the amount of material required.

Very important information. I like this article very much! Muddy runs and coops affect the whole well being of the flock! The flock suffer a lot, and they are living beings! Thank you for bringing this important information.

Excellent, useful, practical information.

Thank you for this!! This is my next project as soon as the rain stops.

Very helpful, practical tips, with details that make a difference. Thank you!
To those folks who are flummoxed by the author's "big whack" of organic material: he means a large amount of whatever kind of straw, wood chips, pine straw, leaves, or other organic material you are adding to lift the chickens up out of the mud. This is colloquial middle American English.

Parts of my run and coop are muddy, I was needing some suggestions and this arrival is enlightening.

Love this article. Lots of info on preventing & fixing your run. Great read.

Good article~