chicken run material in a humid environment where the soil never dries out and average temp is 56f

[llcardinale]

Hello All,
Does anyone have experience with having a chicken run in a humid environment where the soil never dries out. My run flooded last night due to an irrigation problem and I have to replace all of the run material. These are my first chickens so I never realized just how much rain would end up in the run even though it is covered, and then something in my irrigation system is leaking into the run as well. I'm reading that coarse sand and hemp could work. Any other suggestions?

 

[Kmaria187]

Hello All,
Does anyone have experience with having a chicken run in a humid environment where the soil never dries out. My run flooded last night due to an irrigation problem and I have to replace all of the run material. These are my first chickens so I never realized just how much rain would end up in the run even though it is covered, and then something in my irrigation system is leaking into the run as well. I'm reading that coarse sand and hemp could work. Any other suggestions?

Not sure where you are located but up here in Washington we see plenty of rain so we use wood chips from Chip drop they deliver them to your house maybe they are in your area too. keeps them busy and keeps their feet dry and the mud at bay.

 

[perkolator]

x2 on getting arborist wood chips. A chunky and tall profile bedding will elevate above flood conditions and will generally not hold water if it does flood occasionally.

I use wood chips as a base for my setup, but prefer calling arborist directly vs dealing with ChipDrop. I also add lots of different organic materials -- wood shavings, leaves, straw bales, wood pellets, grass clippings, rakings, etc. It breaks down over time along with the poop contributions, harbors insects and worms and other critters the chickens want to forage through all day...and then later when it's broken down you can utilize the soil in the garden.

If you were a chicken penned up all day, would you want to be surrounded by a landscape of barren sand, or something similar to a forest floor/compost pile full of organic materials that you can forage through?