Chicken run a pile of mud - what is best covering / material?

[mylittlehof]

We are in an El Nino in our area now and so my normally dry chicken run is a big muddy mess - I tried a search for materials to use, but couldn't come up with the right combo of words to find useful information, so I'm putting the question to all you wonderful chicken experts: what is a good material to lay in the run yard for keep the mud down, however not harm the chickens (I seem to remember reading on one post straw was not good for crop issues??) please help before the next rain storm

- Thanks!

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

I use sawdust from a local sawmill or pine shavings. Works great!

 

[jamespm_98]

I dumped all my leaves in mine and it does a couple of things, first the girls love to dig in the leaves looking for stuff to eat and it keeps thier feet dry. Being a high carbon material it soaks up the poo and I will eventually use it as compost in my garden. I think it makes the run smell better as well. Free and easy, that is what I look for. As a side note I put some old straw in with the leaves with no problems, I make sure i have plenty of grit availible as well since I have about 6-8 inches of leaves in mine meaning they can't get to the ground very easily to pick up small rocks etc..

 

[patandchickens]

see the "fixing a muddy run" link in my .sig below for discussion of your options and what works better vs not so good

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[SC_Hugh]

Leaves are a great suggestion.

Also, covering your run with some kind of roofing material is key for keeping the rain out of there to begin with. My chicken run only gets a little bit wet when the winds are howling while it is raining.

Amazing how much fun the chickens have scratching around in the leaves and tearing them up. Leaves, moisture and pop all combine into compost for the garden. 6-8" of leaves will soon barely cover one half of the ground...then add more.

--Hugh

 

[Roy]

thanks Pat, those are some great ideas and suggestions...