Disgusting chicken run

[naturababe]

It froze the next day, before I could buy sand or straw but I wanted to update. I ended up shoveling out half the coop which didn't take care of the standing water but it gave them plenty of ground space that wasn't muddy do they were happy. In the process of shoveling I got down under the frost layer and exposed fresh dirt. OMG they went wild, so so so happy to have dirt to scratch in. They spent the whole day scratching and eating whatever was in there. Of course, it just snowed another foot over night so I was out there shoveling again this morning. I have no where left to put my chicken run snow.

I also bought some sand so that during the next thaw I can plunk it down right away.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Put your "chicken run snow" where you plan on a garden for Spring. Wonderful fertilizer!

We have mostly sand so we get plenty of run off.

 

[naturababe]

the problem is that i can't transport the snow. we have at least 3-4 feet on the ground right now. i used a wheel barrow a little bit the first time but now there is no way i can push a wheel barrow through the snow. today i had to shovel in two stages: i shoveled the pen and piled the snow up in the doorway and then i had to push the snow until i could get out of the pen and shovel all the snow into a pile next to the door.

 

[wolfandfinch]

our never-ending rain is starting to seem a little less awful right about now - 3 to 3 FEET of snow! WOAH!

 

[naturababe]

this is the first time i have ever wished for spring, i usually love winter.

 

[95yj]

the good news is that now its probly 7 below where you are, and its frozen solid, the bad news is that in 4 months its all gonna melt... I usually just throwdown pallets or scrapwood in the spring when the mud is inches deep. in a few of my pens that were really bad i dug one end higher than the other to create a natural drainage flow. In most of my pens i just pile the snow up in a corner, adding to the mess come spring, but till then its a wonderful solution.

 

[naturababe]

Spring thaw will be interesting - good thing I have rubber boots that go up to my knees

Pallets are a great idea, I even know where I can grab some free ones.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Tarp!!! Seriously. Get a smallish strong tarp. Pile the stuff on it. Then gather the corners together, get a good hold of it (doubling the 'ends' over a stick often helps) and pull it behind you in your tracks to wherever you want to go. You can move almost as much in a tarp as in a wheelbarrow load -- in fact, a lot *more* for lightweight materials like coop bedding -- and it works no matter how deep the snow.

Pat

 

[naturababe]

ooohhhh!! Pat thank you so much! no idea why this didn't occur to me, we love to hike and camp so we have plenty of tarps in the basement. this is such a great idea.

 

[ikatiemay]

I have 3 ft of snow too I spent a good part of my morning cleaning the coop. I tried to handle the snow in the run 12x16 the first couple of dumps but have lost the battle! i broke my foot the 26th of Dec and its been HE double toothpicks to keep things clean. My DH has been a real trooper helping me. We do have a small lean on our coop that extends into the yard. this area stays snow free and the little chicken doors open under it so they do have about 3x12 feet of covered snow free area. The run has a cover (big welded sheets with 2x4 holes) so I cant throw the snow out over the top. We tried to slope the run so spring runoff will head towards the garden. I LOVE Pats tarp idea, I usually overload the wheelbarrow and dump it before I get to the target! Got the chickens last fall so this will be our first spring we will see if the plan for runoff worked!