MUD!

[scgamecock]

I put straw in the run but after a few days of scratching it's pretty much had it.

 

[Cheryl]

Straw vs. hay? Is there a differance, is straw cheaper, will they eat it?

 

[Moonwalker]

Hay will mold and mildew a LOT more than straw. (unhealthy) It also decomposes into a nasty slush when mixed with mud, making the mud worse and then when the weather warms up, it stinks and attracts gnats.
I use straw in my dog pen, and under my deck (meshed in for the house cats to play) so they have a couple inches of nice dry stuff to play in even after the gutters drain under the deck and they don't have to walk on cold ground. When it gets spread out and beaten down, I just add more, then when it warms up I will fork it out and spread on the garden plot before plowing.
Straw also has the advantage that they won't eat it. They will eat any seeds on it, but not slimy moldy strings of it like they would with hay.

 

[patandchickens]

A thing to be aware of if you put straw down on mud:

it will improve things for a while, but eventually the straw will decompose and create *worse mud* -- deeper, suckier, slower-drying.

So if you're just using straw as an emergency fix that's fine, but you really really wanna remember to rake it out in late spring or summer, once things dry up some, and fix the mud problem PROPERLY (i.e. durably). A durable fix means diverting as much water as possible, by means of eavestroughs and ditches and so on, and then if still necessary, raising the ground up higher, ideally using hard-tamped gravel (over which you replace dirt, sand, or whatever you prefer).

If you're not going to do that, at least take out the old straw and come next wet season put in *fresh* stuff, or woodchips, or something like that.


Pat

 

[jkm]

I live in oregon, and we know about mud! Part of my run is very wet and uncovered, I put down two bales of straw, some hay and just add more every few weeks. I threw some dry shavings in when I cleaned the coop and part of the run yesterday.
the girls are now 12 inches out of the mud in the uncovered part of the run.

I have a bale of straw inthe run, the coverred part and they sit on it when it rains too much.

I will add topsoil in the spring, move the coop/run and it will all just decompose. I have used straw as mulch for years in my garden. so its like lasagna composting.
spring is about three weeks away, it was 60 degrees yesterday.
I am looking for a new set up, mine was a mistake, but we have gotten through a very very windy wet, snowny winter with happy girls, three eggs a day!

 

[ivan3]

Large grain `play sand' really improves drainage. Depending on your soil type it can take quite a bit to `remediate' the area. We have limited topsoil over clay. We regularly add sand on the high sides of the runs (the chooks and turks work it `downhill'). Then it can be raked back up from the low side (very large rocks along fence on low side of runs). The sand helps keep things so much cleaner and, as has been mentioned, can be raked into `patternless patterns' (zen again, it does make waste removal easier)...