I need advice..... Muddy chicken area!...wanting to be nicer and cleaner

[Bear Foot Farm]

You need to do some ditching and landscaping to divert that water flow around and away from that area.
Those hills are funneling all the water right to it.
Adding sand to build it up will also help

 

[ellie32526]

I think grazing frames are good idea, but how those frames are to help us with the mud and flood?

Maybe you can use a combination of the wood chip idea to raise the chickens out of the water and put down a few grazing frames, so that grass or plants will grow and their root system will keep the flood from washing away the soil. I'm not sure what type of flood you're talking about. Not sure anything will help with a major flood but these are just some ideas.

 

[ScottM]

How about this:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-fix-a-muddy-run-chicken-coop

 

[Mrsroeder2012]

Thank u everyone I will take in all the ideas but I tho about 2x6 and puts them on the bottom of the fencing so far and then doing wood ships to fill it and then tat way it wouldn't get flooded how about that

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Wood chips will just soak up and hold the moisture, and eventually rot
Sand will let it drain away and will last far longer.

The first priority should be to prevent the water from flowing there to begin with

 

[Mrsroeder2012]

Very true Bear Foot Farm thank u

 

[mudvstheory]

Hi, I just wanted to add that in my backyard, we diverted water with 8 inch tall mini-berms. Because of the tree roots, digging a trench would be difficult, hurt the trees, and likely fill up with leaves anyway. So I built up a mini-wall instead. It's a v shape, with the point of the V uphill, and the thirty foot legs protecting the house. I used two garden timbers, and connected them with aluminum spikes - they look like foot long nails, that were rust-proof and long enough to go into the dirt a little. I pre-drilled the holes, a little big, so the whole thing pulls apart if you want, but it seems to be stable out there even with the dogs. I mounded soil against it on the downhill side, and I wanted to put some rock on the uphill, but never did. I got some leatherleaf ferns to grow in the new soil. It's made a huge difference for heavy rains and snow-melts.

Another thing to try depending on your topology is a rain garden, where you dig a dip and plant water loving plants, making a bog to catch the water and let it slowly absorb into the ground.

Remember to check drainage off your driveway and house, too, and maybe the septic drainfield. That can pre-saturate the soil by the coop, which makes everything worse.

 

[mustangruss]

Yes I meant the grazing squares. I think they would help with some of the mud problem in that there would always be grass to some extent in the coop but I think also that mud may just be part of the equation for us some times of the year. The only problem I think I would see with the squares is my chickens might dig til they get under them.

 

[mmeyer]

My runs covered...most but with the winter winds it can still get muddy. I have plenty of leaves so what I've been doing is spreading leaves all over the run. The hens love it when i put down a fresh leaves for them to scratch though. With the hens scratching the leaves get mulched down pretty quick. The soil in the run is now higher then the surrounding area. But the grazing frames look like a great idea too.

 

[Cknldy]

I'm surprised no one has said gravel yet My suggestion would be a layer of gravel and sand. When my run started to get muddy in Fall I spread some grit around as a desparate let's-see-if-it-works thing. Amazing how quickly it worked! Since sand is good for drainage and gravel is heavier it won't wash away. You could always put hay/ straw on top, that's what I did. Every now and then add more gravel and sand as it gets pushed into the ground. Chickens can peck at it for grit and the run won't be muddy. Good luck