How to prevent mud in a sloped run?

[fisher39]

I've got an uncovered run that is sloped a bit too much--from past experience, putting any kind of material on a sloped area where there are chickens, they end up kicking it all down the slope, leaving the top exposed. There's bare earth there, and I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to prevent the area from mudding in the rain, short of excavating the area and making it level (too much work).

Any ideas?

 

[Rustywreck]

What materials have you tried? I have gravel in my chicken's run and it has been holding up well. It has a slight slope - enough to not hold water. The gravel doesn't dig too well for them so they don't even try. I left an area of the run in sand so they have a place to dig and scratch.
A picture of the run might help.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

A lair of leaves helps in our pen!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

How much slope is there from one end to the other?

 

[CarolynF]

My DIL has a very thick layer of wood chips, probably 5" at least. Another idea might be to put in a pressure treated 4x4 mid-slope so it interrupts the downhill flow...... creates something of a terrace. Good luck.

 

[fisher39]

Thanks for the tips! I like the idea of putting a piece of lumber mid-slope.

Rustywreck: isn't it a bad thing that the chickens can't dig at all in the run? I feel like my chickens will be bored like crazy all day if they couldn't dig outside. I may just try layering a ton of leaves and other dry material in there, with some lumber mid-slope.

 

[Rustywreck]

As I wrote in my first reply, I left them an area of sand to scratch and dig. They don't need to dig up the whole thing

 

[fisher39]

As I wrote in my first reply, I left them an area of sand to scratch and dig. They don't need to dig up the whole thing

Ah, somehow I didn't catch that. Thank you. I may try that!

 

[Rustywreck]

Good luck with the mud. My chickens aren't a problem, but my turkeys create quite the mud/poop mess.
The turkeys tend to want to spend all of their time in one corner of a large pen, which is sloped. They still create quite the mud pit. This year we had lots of rain this fall. I tried straw and Stall Dry (something you might consider) to dry it up, but still ended up shoveling down to the sand base. It was a crappy job, but had to be done.