Mud Lovin Chickens!!!

[NoseyChickens]

My chickens LOVE the mud. My garden is next to thier run area and every time I water they get so excited. They dig in the mud and play in it like it's the greatest thing in the world. It's been so hot I've been making them thier own mud puddles in thier run.

Is this normal? I hope it isn't bad for them!

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

Ours love the mud. Their favorite game is to have someone turn the hose on a trickle and then they chase the water as it runs over the ground. Then they come back and pick stuff out of the mud.

The only thing we have found is that it is ultra important to keep on a good worming schedule. Dirt/mud can contain the eggs of parasitic worms. I also have read here that wet ground can breed cocci in warm weather conditions, so it's not a good idea to always have the ground where they spend most of their time be wet. We had a hen develop that shortly after we started hosing down their run everyday to try and keep them cool. Once we let it dry out and only have it wet occasionally, we haven't had anymore problems.

 

[Tonopah Pati]

My kids love the mud also. I make a small puddle for them in the pen. I use the water from their foot tub. I used to hose the pen down every day to try to keep them cool. I did have a mite problem, then as suggested, I let the pen dry out, treated the pen and all. Now I use the mist system when the temp. reaches 110. I turn it off around 7:00pm, It drys out fast in this heat and no humidity to speak of. So far I have been able to keep the pen dry because I move the wading tubs to wherever the mist is hitting the ground. I have fresh water for them as well as cooling. I grow a patch of grass in the pen for them. I use the water I have collected to water the grass. So far it is all working out.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/post.php?tid=236252#

 

[chookchick]

When it got really hot, I put pans of water with frozen water bottles inside their run. They drank out of them, but wouldn't step in. So I added chip and sand to the boxes to essentially make enclosed "mud puddles" and they loved them! But I didn't want to leave them permanently for fear of diseases, etc..So if you are concerned about the puddles you could try "containing" them, and changing them out every day or so...BTW I also call them kids!