Muddy coop

[Crazy Maizie]

Hi! I have 2 ducks, a Mallard and a Pekin duck. Their names are Malley the Mallard, and Waddles. They love to dig in the mud and take a mouth full of water and make mud if it is dry! I have a special mud puddle location for them now, to avoid them making their own in their coop. We built up all around the coop with grass sod so no rain water flows into their coop. Kind of just made a hill around the coop. We also use horse pellets, that soak up a ton of water, on top of that we put corn cobs. The corn cobs absorb the water and swell up. When sun comes out, it drys the pellets and the cobs, and they return to normal size! Then they are ready for the next rain and do the same thing. You only need to change them about once a month. The coop stays so clean! Hope this helps

Do you have photos of your set up?

 

[Imataken]

My run is VERY muddy today. And we're expecting 11 inches of rain on Sunday. I did my best to set up my run to divert the water, but there's not much I can do when faced with nearly a foot of water- haha!

For this current situation, I'm using wood pellets. They are doing a great job absorbing the water! I'm also laying on lots of pine shavings just to try to keep the biddies above the water.

We'll see how well that works on Sunday....

We have been getting tons of rain lately I have wood chips in my run but couple months ago I also started adding stall pellets we use them for the bunnies we buy the 50 pound bags at tractor supply for 5 bucks I put 3 bags in my run and it made all the difference they sucked up all the extra water they break down to like a sand texture for us it's been great we were expecting 5 plus inches of rain last night so I put down another bag my run was pretty dry this morning

 

[gtaus]

I lay pallets down and fill all the spaces between the slats with leaves,soiled coop bedding and dirt so when it all settles there are no gaps. The chickens have a dry place to stand on when its wet and love to dig and peck around in it .The bedding and leaves will be ready for the garden beds in 12 months or so. Just Lift the pallet to remove the compost and place in your garden before repeating the same steps. My chickens love pallet islands!

Great idea for a quick fix. Long term solution would be to add enough organic material so it is even higher than a pallet. That way, when you harvest your compost, you don't have to bother with pulling up the pallets.

The ground was poorly draining clay and after rain and much moisture weeks on end, it would smell awful.

After my chickens ate all the grass in their run down to the bare dirt, the run would turn muddy after a heavy rain. Since I have been adding wood chips, grass clippings, and leaves, the run is no longer muddy and everything smells like a fresh forest floor after a heavy rain. When dry, I cannot smell anything. The chickens constantly turn over the litter in the run as they scratch and peck for bugs and worms.

When I mow, I have a pull behind lawn-sweeper that I pull until it's full, then when it rains
like it has been, I take pitchfork fulls of the lawn sweepings, and cover the ground in the pen. The hens like scratching around in it, and in a few days its back to normal conditions.
I've done this 3 or 4 times now -- all out of the same sweeper full. Throughout the winter, once the lawn-clippings are depleted, I'll throw down hay or leaves or just leaves. Lord knows we have plenty of leaves to utilize !

Yes, use all that free material for litter in the chicken run. It did not take me very long to discover that all I had to do was to dump the grass clippings, leaves, or wood chips into a pile in the run and the chickens would level it out themselves in no time. That's pretty much what they do.

I have thought about using the plentiful pine needles I have on property as bedding but read that wet pine needles are not healthy for them?

I have some pallet compost bins for anything that is moldy and I don't think would be good to throw directly into the chicken run. However, if I add all that fresh material into the chicken run, even in a big pile, the chickens will level it out themselves and keep turning it over as they scratch and peck the litter for bugs and worms. I have never seen anything go moldy once in the chicken run. It does compost, but in a natural, healthy manner.

I've never had an issue with pine needles, but I don't bag them for fear of mold

If you have lots of pine needles to use, why not just throw them down into the chicken run when you have them? No need for storing them them and letting them get moldy. If you do bag pine needles, and some of gets moldy, then build a pallet compost bin and/or just throw the moldy stuff into a compost pile elsewhere.

I will bag some dry leaves and store them for winter use in the chicken coop. But I also store some dry wood chips to lay down fresh layers of litter in the coop during the winter months. The chickens will naturally turn over the litter in the coop, but in our frozen winters, I'll throw chicken scratch into areas in the coop that I want the chickens to work over more.

Most of the litter in my coop is dry and workable even in the dead frozen months of the winter, but the litter under the roosts will freeze hard as concrete from the chicken poo. So I do have to throw a new layer of wood chips/leaves under the roosts every once in a while to keep things fresh. I don't clean out the chicken coop until after the spring thaw, and by that time, my litter in the chicken coop may be as high as 12 inches. But I designed my coop for the deep litter system and so 12 inches works great for me. Throwing fresh wood chips and leaves under the roosts keeps the coop cleaner and smelling good.

I have wood chips in my run but couple months ago I also started adding stall pellets we use them for the bunnies we buy the 50 pound bags at tractor supply for 5 bucks

I was able to find our local county landfill will let us take, for free, as many wood chips as we want to haul out on our trailers. Since then, I have not had to purchase bedding/litter material. I do have both a gas and an electric wood chipper at home. They are good for yard clean up of fallen branches. However, it takes a lot of time and effort to make lots of wood chips at home. I can load up my trailer with free wood chips at the county landfill in about 20 minutes that would take me hours and hours to chip up at home. One free load of wood chips from the county landfill will last me more than one year as I also mix in all my lawn grass clippings and leaves from my yard as I put them into the chicken run.

Another paper product I use is shredded junk mail and light cardboard that we get in the mail, cereal boxes, etc... Instead of bagging up all those paper products and sending them to the recycle/landfill, I shred them up. The shreds first get thrown into the chicken coop as part of my litter mix (along with wood chips and leaves), and then get dumped into the chicken run in the fall/spring cleanings when I empty the coop and put down fresh litter. At first I did not like the look of all those colored paper sheds out in the chicken run, but I discovered that they break down really fast in the rain. Also, in the summer, I can just throw down a layer of grass clippings over the paper shreds and they are gone, out of sight.

Anyway, those stall pellets are just basically waste wood products, which is what I am able to get for free at our county landfill, making wood chips at home, and by shredding junk mail at home. All great sources of absorbent carbon litter for the coop and/or run. And less stuff getting thrown into the landfill.

 

[raingarden]

Sometimes pine straw will have red bugs/chiggers in it.

Once the organic matter is composted you need to move it to the garden. If it stays there forever it will just turn into more mud.

 

[Imataken]

Great idea for a quick fix. Long term solution would be to add enough organic material so it is even higher than a pallet. That way, when you harvest your compost, you don't have to bother with pulling up the pallets.



After my chickens ate all the grass in their run down to the bare dirt, the run would turn muddy after a heavy rain. Since I have been adding wood chips, grass clippings, and leaves, the run is no longer muddy and everything smells like a fresh forest floor after a heavy rain. When dry, I cannot smell anything. The chickens constantly turn over the litter in the run as they scratch and peck for bugs and worms.



Yes, use all that free material for litter in the chicken run. It did not take me very long to discover that all I had to do was to dump the grass clippings, leaves, or wood chips into a pile in the run and the chickens would level it out themselves in no time. That's pretty much what they do.



I have some pallet compost bins for anything that is moldy and I don't think would be good to throw directly into the chicken run. However, if I add all that fresh material into the chicken run, even in a big pile, the chickens will level it out themselves and keep turning it over as they scratch and peck the litter for bugs and worms. I have never seen anything go moldy once in the chicken run. It does compost, but in a natural, healthy manner.



If you have lots of pine needles to use, why not just throw them down into the chicken run when you have them? No need for storing them them and letting them get moldy. If you do bag pine needles, and some of gets moldy, then build a pallet compost bin and/or just throw the moldy stuff into a compost pile elsewhere.

I will bag some dry leaves and store them for winter use in the chicken coop. But I also store some dry wood chips to lay down fresh layers of litter in the coop during the winter months. The chickens will naturally turn over the litter in the coop, but in our frozen winters, I'll throw chicken scratch into areas in the coop that I want the chickens to work over more.

Most of the litter in my coop is dry and workable even in the dead frozen months of the winter, but the litter under the roosts will freeze hard as concrete from the chicken poo. So I do have to throw a new layer of wood chips/leaves under the roosts every once in a while to keep things fresh. I don't clean out the chicken coop until after the spring thaw, and by that time, my litter in the chicken coop may be as high as 12 inches. But I designed my coop for the deep litter system and so 12 inches works great for me. Throwing fresh wood chips and leaves under the roosts keeps the coop cleaner and smelling good.



I was able to find our local county landfill will let us take, for free, as many wood chips as we want to haul out on our trailers. Since then, I have not had to purchase bedding/litter material. I do have both a gas and an electric wood chipper at home. They are good for yard clean up of fallen branches. However, it takes a lot of time and effort to make lots of wood chips at home. I can load up my trailer with free wood chips at the county landfill in about 20 minutes that would take me hours and hours to chip up at home. One free load of wood chips from the county landfill will last me more than one year as I also mix in all my lawn grass clippings and leaves from my yard as I put them into the chicken run.

Another paper product I use is shredded junk mail and light cardboard that we get in the mail, cereal boxes, etc... Instead of bagging up all those paper products and sending them to the recycle/landfill, I shred them up. The shreds first get thrown into the chicken coop as part of my litter mix (along with wood chips and leaves), and then get dumped into the chicken run in the fall/spring cleanings when I empty the coop and put down fresh litter. At first I did not like the look of all those colored paper sheds out in the chicken run, but I discovered that they break down really fast in the rain. Also, in the summer, I can just throw down a layer of grass clippings over the paper shreds and they are gone, out of sight.

Anyway, those stall pellets are just basically waste wood products, which is what I am able to get for free at our county landfill, making wood chips at home, and by shredding junk mail at home. All great sources of absorbent carbon litter for the coop and/or run. And less stuff getting thrown into the landfill.

We get the wood chips for free also local landscapers drop off truck load for free branches leaves logs ect I just go on chipdrop.com request what I' want logs wood chips whatever and it's delivered in my driveway usually next day some times couple days later and it's all free

 

[MROO]

I was able to find our local county landfill will let us take, for free, as many wood chips as we want to haul out on our trailers. Since then, I have not had to purchase bedding/litter material. I do have both a gas and an electric wood chipper at home. They are good for yard clean up of fallen branches. However, it takes a lot of time and effort to make lots of wood chips at home. I can load up my trailer with free wood chips at the county landfill in about 20 minutes that would take me hours and hours to chip up at home. One free load of wood chips from the county landfill will last me more than one year as I also mix in all my lawn grass clippings and leaves from my yard as I put them into the chicken run.

Another paper product I use is shredded junk mail and light cardboard that we get in the mail, cereal boxes, etc...

Be very careful with landfill wood chips. I used to get them too, until I found out that they chop the roadside trimmings - including poison ivy - in them. If you have anyone in the family with a poison ivy allergy, avoid the landfill wood chips!

I use my paper shreds, too, especially in broody boxes. I'm careful to keep staples and plastic windows out of my coop shredding. Those add a whole new level of issues!

 

[gtaus]

Be very careful with landfill wood chips. I used to get them too, until I found out that they chop the roadside trimmings - including poison ivy - in them. If you have anyone in the family with a poison ivy allergy, avoid the landfill wood chips!

Well, I have never had a problem with the wood chips I get for free from our county landfill.

I use my paper shreds, too, especially in broody boxes. I'm careful to keep staples and plastic windows out of my coop shredding. Those add a whole new level of issues!

Yes, I remove all plastic windows and staples from my paper shredding. I like the concept of shredding all that junk paper and reusing for the chicken litter rather than dumping it off at the recycle/landfill. Ultimately, the paper shreds will get composted down and put into the garden with my other organic compost material, so you don't want to have staples or plastic in the garden, either.

 

[gtaus]

We get the wood chips for free also local landscapers drop off truck load for free branches leaves logs ect I just go on chipdrop.com request what I' want logs wood chips whatever and it's delivered in my driveway usually next day some times couple days later and it's all free

I signed up for that chipdrop.com, but there were not any landscapers locally that were on that network - at least at that time. You are lucky that all those wood chips get delivered to you. I have to self load my trailer at the landfill, but still it's a much better deal for me to load the trailer than to try and chip that amount of wood at home on my small wood chippers.

 

[MROO]

Well, I have never had a problem with the wood chips I get for free from our county landfill.

I haven't personally had an issue, either, but my Mom did ... and it almost killed her! I'm sure they're fine for most people, but if there's a super-sensitive/allergic person in the family, those "free" wood chips could be a LOT more costly in the long run!
And you're absolutely right about shredded paper bedding. It's cheap. It's effective, It's reusable yet again as compost and using it keeps a mess out of the landfill. It's a win/win/win all the way around!

 

[gtaus]

I haven't personally had an issue, either, but my Mom did ... and it almost killed her! I'm sure they're fine for most people, but if there's a super-sensitive/allergic person in the family, those "free" wood chips could be a LOT more costly in the long run!

My father got a bad case poison ivy many years ago when he was clearing out some wild brushes and trees on my property. It was really bad. The next year he got some kind of a shot so he would not be so sensitive to poison ivy, and he never got a rash that year. Even though I'm not all that sensitive to poison ivy, I always wear work gloves when clearing brush. I also wear gloves when working with wood chips, at home, and at the landfill.

I think the chances of getting poison ivy mixed in with the wood chips is minimal, but if you have someone in the family that is super sensitive, then, yeah, take a pass on free wood chips that you don't know where they came from.

I bought a small electric Sun Joe wood chipper for yard cleanup at home. So I know what is in those chips. Those electric wood chippers do a pretty good job for smaller branches up to about 1 1/2 inches that might fall down from your trees in the yard. Better to chip them up and reuse them with the chickens than to burn them or haul them out to the landfill. It does not make sense to chip wood at home if you consider your time and effort. If you value your time at all, it would be better just to buy bagged wood chips at the big box stores. However, I just put on a pair of my work headphones, load up an audiobook, and chip up the branches with my electric wood chipper while listening to my audiobooks.

If I have lots of branches, and up to 3 inches in diameter, then I get out my gas chipper and get to work. It's a pain to get running, but after that it chips up the wood much faster than my small electric chipper. However, gas chippers are much more expensive than the electric chippers and still they are not very fast. Again, you would be money ahead just to buy bagged wood chips at the store.

But, in keeping with the original intent of this thread, all those wood chips I make at home go right back into the dry deep litter in the coop or into the chicken run to help it from getting muddy. I still think wood chips are the best base to build up the chicken run to prevent it from getting all muddy. Eventually they break down into compost you can reuse the compost in the garden.