Muddy Chicken Runs.

[MysteryChicken]

You can also sign up on chipdrop.com if they have it up in MI. It's a service that directs landscape companies to you. They drop off chips for free and it saves them from having to go to the dump and pay to get rid of them.

I use wood chips in my run as does @Isaac 0 and we both like it very much.

I'll have to look them up.

 

[MrsPeterTHooper]

Our run was muddy until we started putting straw or dead leaves in it. Now the chickens have something to dig through and they till it into the soil, which makes them happy. Once it starts to seem like mostly dirt again (4-6 months, depending on the weather), we add more. It does add height, but there is a lot less mud and the chickens are happier. If you can get a door put in then you can dig it down if it gets too tall. The mud-dirt-leaf-straw-manure mixture is great for the garden!
Btw, grass seems like a great idea but the chickens will destroy it within a week or two. I know from experience.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Also using straw and leaf litter in my run, no issues with the birds ingesting it an impacting crops. Of course, mine free range all day and get a good evening feeding besides, so there is no food competition which might cause them to look to supplement the diet with large amounts of straw.

Some have claimed issue with excessive amounts of straw matting down. That has not been my experience, either - but my run at 1,000 sq ft is too big to just start laying down inches of the stuff. Wouldn't be practical. I also have raised roosts in the run, really just 8-14'tree sections balanced on cinder blocks, so even when we get seasonally torrential rains (Tropical Storm/Hurricane/Summer Squalls) they have places to hang out for the half day or so it takes for the water to find somewhere else to be.

 

[TheFarm41]

Hello, I have 2 chicken coops with terribly muddy runs. The ground is flat, soil type is dirt, & sand.

My largest coop, with a mixed flock has no run gate, so I can't access the yard without having to crawl through the chicken door.

The first coop with my project birds, & meat birds in it have a really muddy run too, & I have to clean the henhouse out because there's 4 inches of mud on the floor. It's getting cleaned out Monday.


I need run fixing ideas to cure the mud problem, & all the ideas given will be appreciated alot.

What are you're ideas?

Mixed Flock Coop
View attachment 2394457View attachment 2394458Standard coop with Project birds, & meat birds.View attachment 2394460View attachment 2394461

Wood chips. Loads of them. at least 1' deep. It will absorb the nitrogen in the droppings, and the wood chips need nitrogen to decompose. It is a beautiful relationship that results in nutrient dense mulch for your garden. The chips help keep it dry, and clean, are a natural deodorizer and the chickens love to scratch through them. We can usually find a truck load or two for free or very cheap every season. We use them for chicken, sheep and pig bedding. Check out this website, or google deep mulch bedding. I have heard some people say that cedar chips are bad, but we have always used wood chips that are a biproduct of logging and brush clearing. There is often cedar in the mix and it has never been an issue. I would not recommend using beauty bark.

https://www.backyardchickencoops.co...entre/the-key-to-a-deep-chicken-litter-system

 

[RubelliteRose]

I have a couple curious questions.

Is it safe to use a truck load of regular untreated sand, or should we use only treated/play sand for the runs? I'm concerned about diseases that the birds can pick up from untreated sand.

Does untreated sand pose any risk of Disease for the birds?

I think your decision to do a composting run is a good one. But here is some advice for sand in case that doesn't work out for any reason. We have a built up covered run filled with sand due to occasional wind driven flooding (we live near a bay). We searched to find construction sand that resembles what comes in a bag of chicken grit. You don't want to use play sand as it is too fine. I quickly scoop my run at least 2 and preferably 3 times a day if I have time. I also turn the sand with a hoe every month or so as the sand will compact over time. My chickens also free range much of the day. This being said, we are planning to triple the size of the run and will use deep litter for the new area while keeping the sandy area so they can get out of the water if it rises too high.
The picture was taken before we added sand up to the bottom of the white boards

 

[MrsMumMe]

Absolutely a fan of a deep litter situation. Been doing it for years.
First make sure you're not overstocking. Absolute max 1 hen per m2. Second check that they are not in a low spot.
Third, add carbon to their pen!
Initially, I'd put a couple of bails of hay in there (take out the twine) and let the chooks play with them and spread them around. Then as you have it, add grass clippings, leaf litter, saw dust, toilet rolls, ripped up egg cartons (ask your neighbours and friends), dried cow manure from the local farmer's paddock, anything and everything.
I don't use *fresh* wood chip, as I'm convinced (rightly or wrongly) that the hens that scratch well could end up with splinters.

My deep litter pen is my compost bin. Everything goes in there. All kitchen organic waste. This deep litter situation will attract all sorts of life and creepies and the chookies will delight in digging through and their diet will be supplemented beautifully. Typically, I periodically move the pen and its vacated position becomes next season's vegetable garden. The hens enjoy the grass and weeds in the new location until they've almost destroyed it, then I start adding my scraps and compost and we start all over again.

Re sloping the run, I would start with a series of berms, a series of small hills and valleys, especially if the whole area around the pen is level. High points that will dry fast and lower points that will allow the water to drain and you can direct the water from the valleys to your desired exit. Will be easy to achieve with a pick or mattock.

You could create your berms by trench composting in the pen. Dig a trench and drop your scraps in it. Leave it uncovered and the hens will enjoy the scraps. The moisture will drain to the trench too, and beside the trench will dry out. Once there's a fair amount of scraps in that trench, dig another about 50cm from it, parallel to it.

Enjoy the adventure!

 

[Nigel27]

Absolutely a fan of a deep litter situation. Been doing it for years.
First make sure you're not overstocking. Absolute max 1 hen per m2. Second check that they are not in a low spot.
Third, add carbon to their pen!
Initially, I'd put a couple of bails of hay in there (take out the twine) and let the chooks play with them and spread them around. Then as you have it, add grass clippings, leaf litter, saw dust, toilet rolls, ripped up egg cartons (ask your neighbours and friends), dried cow manure from the local farmer's paddock, anything and everything.
I don't use *fresh* wood chip, as I'm convinced (rightly or wrongly) that the hens that scratch well could end up with splinters.

My deep litter pen is my compost bin. Everything goes in there. All kitchen organic waste. This deep litter situation will attract all sorts of life and creepies and the chookies will delight in digging through and their diet will be supplemented beautifully. Typically, I periodically move the pen and its vacated position becomes next season's vegetable garden. The hens enjoy the grass and weeds in the new location until they've almost destroyed it, then I start adding my scraps and compost and we start all over again.

Re sloping the run, I would start with a series of berms, a series of small hills and valleys, especially if the whole area around the pen is level. High points that will dry fast and lower points that will allow the water to drain and you can direct the water from the valleys to your desired exit. Will be easy to achieve with a pick or mattock.

You could create your berms by trench composting in the pen. Dig a trench and drop your scraps in it. Leave it uncovered and the hens will enjoy the scraps. The moisture will drain to the trench too, and beside the trench will dry out. Once there's a fair amount of scraps in that trench, dig another about 50cm from it, parallel to it.

Enjoy the adventure!

Any thoughts on cedar chips? I have access to tons but don’t know if it’ll be ok? Might take a long time to break down or be unsafe chemically

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Cedar chips are hard on the respiratory system, likely related to the chemicals (phenols) in the resin that makes it better bug repellant than many other tree species - but since your run is open air, and no one on BYC long maintains a coop without adequate ventilation (I feel like I should highlight and link @aart 's page every time I type that word), i suspect the use of cedar chips should be fine.

I'm just supposing here, however, if a more experienced chicken owner says otherwise, defer to their view.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't use *fresh* wood chip, as I'm convinced (rightly or wrongly) that the hens that scratch well could end up with splinters.

Main problem with fresh chips is they can develop harmful molds such as aspergillus.

Any thoughts on cedar chips? I have access to tons but don’t know if it’ll be ok? Might take a long time to break down or be unsafe chemically

Cedar chips are hard on the respiratory system, likely related to the chemicals (phenols) in the resin that makes it better bug repellant than many other tree species - but since your run is open air, and no one on BYC long maintains a coop without adequate ventilation (I feel like I should highlight and link @aart 's page every time I type that word), i suspect the use of cedar chips should be fine.

I'm just supposing here, however, if a more experienced chicken owner says otherwise, defer to their view.

Cedar does take a very long time to break down.

I have cedar chips in my chip mix (can't be avoided around here... if you chip fallen branches, you'll have cedar mixed in) and I use aged chips in both coop and run. I brooded my last two batches of chicks out in the run too. The chips work just fine for me and I've never had any chicken show any signs of respiratory issues.

Many coop builds have cedar and I don't think people ever consider that. My current coop has cedar trim, my old one (which is now a chick brooder) is 100% cedar.

I would probably avoid using all cedar chips, or fresh cedar chips (well, fresh anything really... pine sap is awful!), or cedar in closed-in environments (i.e. indoor brooder, coop lacking in ventilation). Also as there's different types of cedar, you may want to avoid using the more aromatic varieties like Eastern Red Cedar.

 

[Nigel27]

Cedar chips are hard on the respiratory system, likely related to the chemicals (phenols) in the resin that makes it better bug repellant than many other tree species - but since your run is open air, and no one on BYC long maintains a coop without adequate ventilation (I feel like I should highlight and link @aart 's page every time I type that word), i suspect the use of cedar chips should be fine.

I'm just supposing here, however, if a more experienced chicken owner says otherwise, defer to their view.

Main problem with fresh chips is they can develop harmful molds such as aspergillus.





Cedar does take a very long time to break down.

I have cedar chips in my chip mix (can't be avoided around here... if you chip fallen branches, you'll have cedar mixed in) and I use aged chips in both coop and run. I brooded my last two batches of chicks out in the run too. The chips work just fine for me and I've never had any chicken show any signs of respiratory issues.

Many coop builds have cedar and I don't think people ever consider that. My current coop has cedar trim, my old one (which is now a chick brooder) is 100% cedar.

I would probably avoid using all cedar chips, or fresh cedar chips (well, fresh anything really... pine sap is awful!), or cedar in closed-in environments (i.e. indoor brooder, coop lacking in ventilation). Also as there's different types of cedar, you may want to avoid using the more aromatic varieties like Eastern Red Cedar.

It’s red cedar, but the humidity is extremely high and it would be outside so I don’t think there will be much dust to cause respiratory issues. It’s not totally cedar but mostly. I need something to soak up the mud in and around the run