My chicken run is normally in a 'dry' area of the farm... i.e.. it can rain pretty good and it drys out quickly, but.... we've had multiple days of heavy rain on top of a very wet spring. Usually, we complain because it hasn't rained... I'm beginning to think I need to build an ark before I float away. This rain won't stop. My poor chickens have a very muddy run, puddles included. Can I put anything down to help 'control' the mud till this all drys out? I thought about straw but worry that they'll eat it and get an impacted crop. My girls have been hanging out in the coop, but really want to be outside - they all hang out in the doorway to the run, poking their heads out. Thanks
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run I hope this helps. Good luck.
I am afraid straw in the long run would make it worse. Today I am gonna till it a little to remove the crust and add sand to the run. (Mine is drying out to some degree) This is a new run, it had grass in it and now its gone and its soup.My old run I did sand right away and didnt have mud like this. I hate tarps but if they are calling for more ran before it dries out I am gonna cover the run.
throw down straw or shavings, just put one layer down. Then cover it with sand. Sand in the run REALLY helps! There's a lot of threads on here about it.
I use leaves, but i have lots of trees so i can gather them anytime of year. They are good for 2 to 3 days before the birds turn them to dirt and i have 100's of birds. IMO straw and hay are very difficult to remove after the rains have gone .
Right in front of my coop is SO nasty right now, it's been raining for Days so this morning I took out shavings and scattered them all around, it def helps alittle by soaking up mud/water....I hate this rainy weather, Ive used straw also, Im also debating about sand and see if it helps in the long run
I have large tree bark wood chips in mine (only because I saw a video of the "chicken whisperer" and that is what he recommended to use), we have had a ton of rain where I live and I haven't had any problems at all in the run area, however, if you're wanting grass inside then wood chips won't help with that.
My run turned into a mud bog also last year- I filled old feedsacks w/ dirt and made sandbags to divert the water flow and I used straw to make a "dry layer" for the ladies to range on every few days. I ended up using the same technique over snow to make it range-worthy all winter too. I've added wood chips (when I clean out the coop) and leaves in the fall. This spring I've been turning under the broken down straw and it shows signs of life (as opposed to the hard pack it was last year prior to the flooding). I haven't had any impacted crops, thank god- the ladies are definitely more interested in munching the horse's hay than the plain ol' straw I used on the ground. I'm thrilled that all the composting materials have actually made my run floor higher than the surrounding area, so rain so far this year has just ran on either side of the run.
When I clean out the coop, I throw all the straw and wood shavings in the run. I have also used leaves. It all helps to control the mud plus the girls love to pick through it to find the goodies.
