Mud advice needed

[City girl Philly]

Hi, so my 6 week old gals have been in their new home for 2 days now. Underneath the coop (I have attached a photo) is muddy bc it rained last night. I didn't think it was a huge deal but now I am reading mud can cause all kinds of health issues....should I buy sand and spread it around? Or should I use pine shavings? Please help! Thank you!

 

[sirrobyn0]

I would say it depends on how bad the mud is. It is hard to tell in the picture. I think if it were me I'd just hang on and see what happens during the next few days or longer. I have kind of two thoughts, one is if there is mud after two days it might be worse after a week or more, on the other hand we are heading into summer which of course means dryer weather. Now take someone like me. I've got about 40 chickens, and two huge runs for all these chickens. There is no way that I can really control all of the mud in the pacific northwest during the rainy season. So I make sure there is some place they can go that is dry, and places with dry dirty so they can dirt bath, but there is still mud and I'll never get rid of it. I guess what I'm saying is mud isn't the best thing in the world for the chickens, but it isn't going to cause them any great harm so long as they have sufficient non-muddy areas to be in.

 

[City girl Philly]

I would say it depends on how bad the mud is. It is hard to tell in the picture. I think if it were me I'd just hang on and see what happens during the next few days or longer. I have kind of two thoughts, one is if there is mud after two days it might be worse after a week or more, on the other hand we are heading into summer which of course means dryer weather. Now take someone like me. I've got about 40 chickens, and two huge runs for all these chickens. There is no way that I can really control all of the mud in the pacific northwest during the rainy season. So I make sure there is some place they can go that is dry, and places with dry dirty so they can dirt bath, but there is still mud and I'll never get rid of it. I guess what I'm saying is mud isn't the best thing in the world for the chickens, but it isn't going to cause them any great harm so long as they have sufficient non-muddy areas to be in.

1st of all thank you for the reply! I appreciate it. The mud isn't super bad....water isn't pooling up or anything. As I said I didn't think it was a big deal till I read it can cause bumblefoot and other ailments. So here I am at work internally freaking out a little.....worried about my 4 girls.

 

[sirrobyn0]

Stop freaking out. They are fine. Monitor the situation and see how it progresses. If it starts getting really muddy and they don't have a dry place to be then work on a fix, otherwise I wouldn't sweat it to much. Rain is a fact of life and so is at least a little mud.

 

[Cryss]

I had mud and puddles forming in the covered run. I use wood chips in my garden to hold moisture in the soil because it is absorbent but will release the absorbed moisture back into the soil. It occurred to me it might work in the run. Yup. No mud, no puddles. Tree services will gladly drop a load of chips on your property. Saves them paying dump sites to take their truckful. Give it a try, you won't regret it.
Wood chips NOT shavings. Shavings decompose too quickly.

 

[featherhead007]

Is there any place near by, you can buy hiking boots for the chickens?

 

[aart]

till I read it can cause bumblefoot and other ailments.

Ehhh, that's not strictly fact...tho disease and infective organisms can thrive in mucky environments, it's not automatically going to make your birds sick.
'Bumblefoot' is usually a staph infection in a open foot wound.

Your tiny coop and run could be come unhealthy if not kept clean tho,
larger spaces are less likely to become in issue.
Good space and ventilation in coops,
and runs with decent bedding to 'absorb' and break down poops.

 

[City girl Philly]

Thank you everyone!! I put pine shavings on the ground and I added a tarp bc it is supposed to rain AGAIN tonight.....my girls are ok!! ❤❤❤

 

[CynthiaN]

I had mud and puddles forming in the covered run. I use wood chips in my garden to hold moisture in the soil because it is absorbent but will release the absorbed moisture back into the soil. It occurred to me it might work in the run. Yup. No mud, no puddles. Tree services will gladly drop a load of chips on your property. Saves them paying dump sites to take their truckful. Give it a try, you won't regret it.
Wood chips NOT shavings. Shavings decompose too quickly.

My big concern with my run is that when it rains a lot (I'm in East Tn. so it isn't a concern most of the time) my run area (not finished yet and won't get chickens for a couple of weeks) will be like a big puddle. Should I cover it with wood chips?

 

[City girl Philly]

My big concern with my run is that when it rains a lot (I'm in East Tn. so it isn't a concern most of the time) my run area (not finished yet and won't get chickens for a couple of weeks) will be like a big puddle. Should I cover it with wood chips?

Good question! I would like to know the answer to this also.