MUDDY RUN - HELP

[peepnpato]

Hi! wondering if anyone can suggest the best bedding for a coop/run that prevents it from getting muddy??
It rains a ton here and our coop is constantly muddy and stinky. Any advice to fix this??
I have both chickens and ducks living together.

 

[DobieLover]

Hi! wondering if anyone can suggest the best bedding for a coop/run that prevents it from getting muddy??
It rains a ton here and our coop is constantly muddy and stinky. Any advice to fix this??
I have both chickens and ducks living together.

You need a solid roof over the run. Nothing is going to stop rain from turning a run into a quagmire other than a solid roof.

 

[aart]

You need a solid roof over the run. Nothing is going to stop rain from turning a run into a quagmire other than a solid roof.

Well, yeah, but good drainage and bedding can surely help.

It rains a ton here and our coop is constantly muddy and stinky.

Pics of the current conditions would help here.
Dimensions of run, in feet by feet, and number of birds?
Look at drainage first.

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[Ms Clucky]

I got the same problem. I want to put a pitched roof using the same pvc pipe that I used for the whole run, but that stuff has gotten expensive.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Read this. It might give you some ideas. The lady that wrote it lived in what she called a swamp in Ontario. I think that swamp soil she had to work with affected her but I think these are great ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-fix-a-muddy-run-chicken-coop.47807/

Chickens and ducks together in a run often cause issues. Ducks need water and can be pretty messy with it. I don't know what your coop and run look like but that might be part of your issue. You said it was stinky as well as muddy, that adds another dimension to it.

Without knowing what you have to work with it's hard to give anything specific. Two generic remedies are to try to keep water out to start with and get it out once it gets in.

Pat has some suggestions on keeping water out. I don't know how it is getting in yours but rain and snow can blow in from the side. My covered section of the run can get really wet when it rains just from the stuff that blows in. So, how is water getting in? You have to know that before you can stop it.

If water has someplace to go gravity will move it out. If your soil is pervious, like sand, you probably wouldn't have this issue to start with. Clay is really impervious. Most of us have soils somewhere in between the two extremes. I'll assume yours is mostly clay and doesn't have much of a slope..

A muddy run is a mess to deal with, but when it gets stinky it's worse. The stink comes from anaerobic microbes digesting the compostable stuff in the soil. The wet keeps oxygen away so only anaerobic microbes can live. Aerobic microbes give a nice earthy smell but can't live without oxygen. The compostable stuff is their poop and any natural materials such as bedding. If you fill a hole in clay with sand that is not going to help you. The water still will not leave since it doesn't have any place to go.

I don't know what you have to work with. Size can make a difference. If you have a low spot nearby some type of French drain might work. Building it up with dirt so it is higher than the surroundings might work. You could even top that with sand to improve drainage once it is high enough. If it were just muddy I'd suggest putting in pallets or something to give you and your chickens a way to get up out of the mud but that probably won't help the stink. Some people find that using bedding in there stops it, but others find that even that becomes stinky or muddy and they have to dig it out and replace it. There is no one easy way that works for everyone because we are in such different situations.

 

[peepnpato]

I live in Hawaii but it actually rains a lot in my particular area. I’ve also read that gravel or rock help, is this something I could try?

 

[TanyaTS]

I use pine straw in my run and love it. My chickas love it too. They always get so excited when I add a new layer. I’ve never had an odor problem. But then again I periodically scoop up poop and add to compost heap. I only have four so pretty easy to keep up

 

[perkolator]

Thick layer of wood chips/arborist mulch will help a lot, a roof would help even more