Is any one else hating the rain?

[Suzi18]

Finally had a dry sunny day here today. The run was a muddy mucky icky mess. I had my husband dump a whole lot of sand in there and I raked it all out nice and even and boy what a difference. I have sand in my coops and my other run so I don't know why I didn't just do this one to begin with. Yes it still gets wet but dries out much quicker and is much neater

 

[TheYLWFlock]

Yes, we change out the sand every year. We did 1 large bag, 50 lbs, and it was about $5? Washed, construction grade sand, not "play" sand (which is very fine, and can lead to respiratory issues). The large bag covered the concrete floor of our 5X8 foot coop with about 2-3 inches. I would do as much as you can over a dirt floor, depending on drainage. (if you have a leaky coop, or your birds are inside all the time). I do have a ladder that leads from the roosts down the floor, so the heavier birds don't hurt their feet hopping down (I noticed some limping from my hefty gals before the ladder).

Every morning, I would just scoop up the poops with a kitty litter scoop. It takes about a minute. It's really nice for when the chickens come inside from the rain to lay their eggs, as their muddy feet get cleaned with the sand. Yes, they do track the sand into the nest boxes, but it's easy to wipe it off the eggs. I have old mattress pads as nest liners, and I just shake those off (no more sand), wash, or throw them away.

I'm *absolutely* not getting into the sand in the coop/straw debate, as far as warmth, etc. We don't get that cold here. We have triple insulation, pretty mild temps, and my coop has never dropped below 32 F (I know this, because the water has never frozen). If I were in South Dakota, I would consider other methods to raise the coop temp, I'm sure! If we have a big cold snap, my boyfriend will bring the hens in the bed with us, if I let him.

People always ask what to do with the old sand when we change it out? We just pile it into the wheel barrow, and drag it to a low, muddy spot in. the back of the yard.

I hope this helps!

Great, thank you! That definitely helps, the sound sounds good, I might try it for next year!

I am super happy to say hat I got EVERYTHING accomplished yesterday! The coop extension, a giant layer of leaves and shavings, a massive tarp over the entire run, extra waterproofing on the coop so no more leakes! A huge load of shavings in the coop. So yeah, they’ll be clean, warm and dry and have loads of space this winter! They now have 80 square feet with the coop and run combined for only 4 birds, so I think they’ll be fine. They also ate some yummy pumpkin and Lucy wore her beautiful tutu for some of our guests wanting to learn more about chickens. Overall, it was a great day!

 

[DobieLover]

With all the rain came lots and lots of MUD. I can't stand it any more!
Today we got a truck load of free wood chips from the Town and this is how we are dealing with it.

It works GREAT!! Ha! I win!

 

[CapricornFarm]

We are supposed to get more rain tomorrow and the next day. I am going to start building the ark now.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Yea, it's raining here again today & more rain & storms for tomorrow. Run hadn't completely dried out from previous rain & then we had 2.6 inches on Friday. So tired of muddy eggs! Had been trying the deep litter method since last year, but never have enough stuff. The run is truly worse than when I just had dirt & sand. Want to get in & dig out the excess, but it has been wet since July. The rain ruined the garden this year, worst year ever in 34. It just sucks.

 

[TheYLWFlock]

With all the rain came lots and lots of MUD. I can't stand it any more!
Today we got a truck load of free wood chips from the Town and this is how we are dealing with it.View attachment 1581774

It works GREAT!! Ha! I win!

Nice. I need some of those! The rain has been going easy on us over he past couple of days, although the girls have slowed down laying...

 

[DobieLover]

Nice. I need some of those! The rain has been going easy on us over he past couple of days, although the girls have slowed down laying...

The really great thing about it is, in the spring when (in theory) it dries up a little, I can shovel all the wood chips and put them in the new run I'm building. Anything I miss I will just mow over and chop it up and it will compost into the lawn.
We'll be installing some rustic irregular full color flagstone paths where these paths are so I don't care if the grass dies in that area. And I can always re-seed it if it does. I'd rather the wood chip paths than tracking all that mud into the house every day.

 

[sourland]

Why have my feet become webbed ? Anyone see "The Sound of Water?"

 

[CapricornFarm]

We are getting rain again today. Slick as snot out there, have to be careful where you step. We must be hitting new records for rainfall.

 

[Shadrach]

Pfft, Spain right, everyone knows its hot and sunny. We've had mutiple landslides because it's rained so much. Last summer 38 to 40 degrees centigrade, 100 to 104 Fahrenheit and as dry as a Scotsmans jockstrap. This year the only way the chickens can get about is by standing on a ducks back!
I am happy to say now winter has arrived we've had some glorious sunny days but then the skies open again and it's back to the boats.