MUD!

[Cheryl]

Back in Sept before the coop was put in its place, I planted some great grass...now after the wear and tear of putting it in place and this winter great weather, not too mention chicken snacking...I have a great bed of MUD! So come spring do I leave the dirt (still great for grass growing, but it won't happen unless I buy sod!) or do I replace it with something else...and what is that something else! Should be easy to do, cause there is still no "pen" just the space, poles etc to staple it to.

 

[2dream]

Cheryl,
I am slightly confused. Are you trying to grow grass in a chicken run? Or where a chicken run is going to be? Or do you just have mud from tramping around where you constructed your new coop?

 

[Cheryl]

Since chickens like to eat grass, I planted it for them, deep down I guess I knew what the outcome would be...but what should I plan on for the summer? Playsand?

 

[MissPrissy]

You could till it all under and add gardeners lime to freshen the soil but you have to keep the chickens off of it until it has had time to disperse in the soil or a heavy rain. Then you can make trenchs and direct the water away and use gravel to fill like with a septic system. Add some sand to give them something to scratch in.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I highly recommend sand. It's easy to rake every couple of days to get the dried-up poo out, and you get a nice Zen look after you're finished. Sand dries out quicker than good soil too.

 

[SeaChick]

Buff, how much sand do you have in the run? Like how many inches? I'm WISHING for sand but our girls dig some REALLY deep holes and I'm worried that after all the trouble and expense of trucking sand in, they'd just mix it up with the dirt underneath. They've thoroughly mixed the soil in their run in with the several bags of leaves and bales of hay that have been given them since October.

 

[Cheryl]

Beach sand, like for play boxes? As for run off, there isn't a problem with settling water...it just is good loam that has gone through the ringer! I don't have the option to keep the chickens off of it, so lime is out of the question. I have a small yard and the coop and run "space" is permanent

 

[scgamecock]

I have the same problem and I'm trying to figure out what to try.

 

[rrrsmom]

We had a mud problem, that we solved with straw. So far so good. Haven't seen the downfall yet. We get run off from two roofs rain and snow. The straw seems to be working. The chickens love it and our eggs are alot cleaner.

 

[justusnak]

Oh boy, do I know the MUD.

What I have done is take the straw bedding from the coop, and nest boxes, and throw it across thier yard. Later in the summer, when it dries out, DH will take the tiller to it. It sure helps with the draining...and helps some with the mud....and they LOVE to scratch around in it.