Muddy run! Help please!

[Chicken girl 15]

Ding ding ding... Duh ( not at you at me) . In the run toss in a bag of wood shavings and all the leafs and yard waste , and shredded paper and crumpled up paper. It help to build the ground up as well as gives bugs a place to hide for the chickens to find them. All vegetable scraps from the kitchen, toilet paper rolls , paper towel rolls. It all makes good run absorber.

 

[JanetMarie]

I love to hear about spoiled chickens.

 

[lancasterflock]

Chicken girl I took notes. That's all stuff I have and is easy to come by. This is our families first go at chickens so we're learning. This site has helped so much! Very grateful to whomever started this website.

 

[ctc084]

I've been tossing down hay for mine. I'll get out there and toss more down tomorrow because it's started to rain like mad and I suppose I'll throw in some pine needles too.

 

[Gracie chick]

I was just wandering what to do about my muddy run. I also live in Southern Oregon and all the input was very helpful.

 

[chicky1016]

We are having the same problem here in south jersey right now also. Lots of rain and (unseasonable) humid weather. My poor chickens feet are completely covered when they walk. And the smell- OH THE SMELL! After a lot of researching, I put loads and loads of a mixture of pine needles, dirt, gravel, leaves, composted pine shavings (from their coop bedding that I clean every 2 days and dump in a pile out back). Took me 2 hours. I spread it all throughout the pen, paying more attention to the problem areas that tend to puddle. The smell instantly went away and now they have a soft floor to walk on and their feet are not standing in mud. We are supposed to get more rain today and tomorrow also so I am wondering how long it will last. But at least now I have something that is compostable. If I need to add more throughout the week, I'll just add it on top of what is in there now. It will eventually compost. I thought of doing hay, but it's $7 a bale here and I didn't want to have to rake it all out in a few days. So, I am really hoping this works. (fingers crossed)

 

[Beekissed]

I'd avoid hay or straw in a wet and muddy run, if you can help it. Seems to do much better in the long run if the materials are varied in type and size instead of all one type and particle size. The added benefit is that the run then becomes a place for worms and bugs to feed off the manure and organic materials as they compost...which will also feed your flock. Good bacteria and fungi can grow in a composting run whereas nothing much good can grow in soils that are too compacted, barren and unable to absorb moisture....that's just a good petri dish for all things bad.

Give all that nitrogen something with which to bind and suddenly you have a habitat instead of just a run. By spring you could put down some grow frames and seed them and expect to have some good growth going on~more healthy food for the chickens.







Come summer you're going to notice less smells, less flies and more contented and busy chickens if you maintain a healthy, composting deep litter in their run. More healthy food choices, healthier microbial life in the soil, healthier chickens all the way around.

 

[Floof]

I had a similar issue with my run. Once the chickens ate all the grass, there wasn't anything to absorb the rain and it got stinky and muddy pretty fast. I bought a tarp for under $20 and tied that on to help keep most of the rain out and have been putting all our grass and other plant clippings in there. The plant clippings keep my chickens feet out of the mud and I haven't had the smelliness come back. My only regret is that I bought a blue tarp and it keeps my chicken run pretty dark. I noticed my pullets going to roost during the late afternoon and then just sitting there looking pretty confused because it wasn't actually night time. Someone advised me to buy a clear tarp or shower curtain but haven't been able to invest in one yet.

 

[chicky1016]

We are having the same problem here in south jersey right now also. Lots of rain and (unseasonable) humid weather. My poor chickens feet are completely covered when they walk. And the smell- OH THE SMELL! After a lot of researching, I put loads and loads of a mixture of pine needles, dirt, gravel, leaves, composted pine shavings (from their coop bedding that I clean every 2 days and dump in a pile out back). Took me 2 hours. I spread it all throughout the pen, paying more attention to the problem areas that tend to puddle. The smell instantly went away and now they have a soft floor to walk on and their feet are not standing in mud. We are supposed to get more rain today and tomorrow also so I am wondering how long it will last. But at least now I have something that is compostable. If I need to add more throughout the week, I'll just add it on top of what is in there now. It will eventually compost. I thought of doing hay, but it's $7 a bale here and I didn't want to have to rake it all out in a few days. So, I am really hoping this works. (fingers crossed)

**Update**

Well it did rain pretty much all night last night and much to my surprise, there still is no sign of mud in the run. And the smell is still gone. When they walk, they don't sink either and mud is not coming to the surface. I think I finally found a way to keep the mud at bay and for FREE, so happy!

 

[lowrypt]

How deep are we taking here? I have a brand new run for them but ... It won't take long and the chickens will be in mud. I was gonna use sand. But no. Right?

I should
Go with leaves dirt pine needles pine shavings. And then we now and he gets a truck bed full of grass. How
Much of that should I put into run?

8x12 run. 8 babies
Now but will be hens.