How to combat mud in the run

[DuckDuckSook]

Hello Friends!

Well, it's been raining for days over here in SE PA and my runs are mud, especially the one with our 2 new ducks. Any tips on how best to mitigate the mud? I've put hay down on top but that only lasts and stays dry for a few hours at the most. Then, it's a mess to rake up. I've tried small pebbles/gravel but that doesn't really get rid of the mud; it just mixes in. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! TIA!

 

[aart]

Do you only have ducks or chickens too?
Coarse wood chippings from a tree trimmer.
Plus alleviating any drainage issues.....which could be a problem if you have a duck pool for swimming.
Pics of your run might help here.

 

[DuckDuckSook]

Do you only have ducks or chickens too?
Coarse wood chippings from a tree trimmer.
Plus alleviating any drainage issues.....which could be a problem if you have a duck pool for swimming.
Pics of your run might help here.

The coop and run I am referring to has ducks and chickens. I don't have a duck pool. I have 3 medium/large rubber bowls that the ducks drink out of and go into. There is a smaller one that the chickens primarily use. The duck bowls are sitting on top of old baby gate panels on top of pavers. This acts as a screen so that water doesn't pool around that area. I don't have visible ponding or puddles of water. I just have wet mud in spots. We have had 4 days of rain/mist/moisture so that has made the situation more of a mess. I was just hoping there was something I could do to help dry it out some. The run is covered, but it has been windy so the moisture is blowing in despite the cover.

 

[rosemarythyme]

x2 on deep litter with a base of chunky wood chips but that's only effective if drainage is good at the location. There's no specific bedding that will fix a drainage issue.

If there's normally not a problem and it's just this current storm that's making things bad, then just putting down hay or dried leaves or whatnot and cleaning it out would probably be sufficient for the duration of the storm.

What type of litter do you normally have in there?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I use fake grass around my kid pools and ponds
This stops all mud for me
It also has allowed a ton of earth worms to get busy under it
Every now and then I lift the fake grass and the ducks have fun while eating protein
This would also work over heavy just dirt areas
I ended up putting grass down in my pure dirt run but kept the fake grass around the pond and kid pool
Also keeps my pools much cleaner

 

[DuckDuckSook]

I use fake grass around my kid pools and ponds
This stops all mud for me
It also has allowed a ton of earth worms to get busy under it
Every now and then I lift the fake grass and the ducks have fun while eating protein
This would also work over heavy just dirt areas
I ended up putting grass down in my pure dirt run but kept the fake grass around the pond and kid pool
Also keeps my pools much cleaner

This is a great idea! I could put this around the water bowl area and the pool area that is outside of the run too. Thanks!