Mud. SO MUCH MUD! Help.

[vespapurr]

Hi,

I am a fairly new chicken owner and have a questions about coop and run keeping. We have had nothing but rain, rain, and more rain. The mud is taking over. We have it designed so that the inner coop with a small run (mainly where feed and water are kept) are inside a large fenced in space. When the weather allows and we are home, we open the outer space into the much larger yard and grass. During the day, when we are at work, they can go between the coop, run and outer space. The outer space is just mud. So much mud. I had hay down, forget it. It is embedded. Plus, I worry about it getting moldy, so pulled the rest up. It seems I will have a similar issue with wood shavings, which I use in inner coop? Any suggestions on what else to out down? It's a mess. My girls, Barred Plymouth Rocks, don't seem to mind the rain one bit, but it is getting really hard to maintain any degree of cleanliness!

Thanks so much!

 

[teach1rusl]

You must live in my area, lol, because this has got to be the wettest summer I can remember!! I don't know how large an area you're talking about, but my go-to outdoor bedding will always be sand. Around here, you can buy a ton for under $20...the coarse stuff w/pea gravel mixed in (construction sand I believe). So if you have a pickup truck, I'd find a local rock quarry or landscaping place. Its easy to clean,and is just WONDERFUL in wet weather...

 

[vespapurr]

Thanks for the suggestion! I never thought about a sandy mix. It makes sense though, especially for cleaning and drainage. Also, I bet the girls would love a sand bath when it drys out! I am located in WNY, and while my gardens looks AMAZING from all the rain, the coop is a mud pit!

 

[GreenBabe5]

Just buy alot, i got half a ton, cost was 15 bucks but delivery was 25 LOL next time i won't waist time and just get the full ton. Half a ton will cover 2 in deep in 90 square feet or so according to the online calculators.

 

[dearnley]

I just made a dry spot on top of mud pallets tarp and poles put a piece of plywood atop with some wood shavings happy for now when it dries up out. There I am going to get a load of sand to heavy I'm in nh

 

[teach1rusl]

Thanks for the suggestion! I never thought about a sandy mix. It makes sense though, especially for cleaning and drainage. Also, I bet the girls would love a sand bath when it drys out! I am located in WNY, and while my gardens looks AMAZING from all the rain, the coop is a mud pit!

I KNOW!!! My garden is doing great this year!! But dang...that rain gets depressing day after day after day....
And yes, they will love dustbathing in it. A plastic, closely tined rake works great at sifting the droppings...I lightly rake mine about once a week, kind of like sifting a litter box...lol.

 

[vespapurr]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

We did a layer of gravel (a buffer between mud and sand) with a good layer of sand on top. So much better, and MUCH easier to clean and maintain with rain. It is starting to let up rain wise for a bit, so a bucket and a cat box scoop is all I need now to clean, and then I rake it a bit each night after they go inside the inner coop to keep it fresh for the next day. Between their new digs on "chicken beach" and lots of yard time, the girls are some happy chickens!

 

[apteryx]

Good to hear that other have had success with sand in their runs. I have just started adding sand and it has helped a lot with the mud.

 

[teach1rusl]

Sand is the greatest! Glad to hear that it's working for you...

 

[clifford258]

My Chicken run is sorta goin down hill. Do you think the sand will wash away when it rains?