Muddy Run Question

[CraziChknLady]

It has been raining for two days and unfortunately will be for several more days. My run bedding is a mix of regular dirt/soil/topsoil as well as pine shavings and mulch (a mix if pine and some other wood, can't remember the name at the moment, but I did check before I bought in the summer and it is safe.) and leaves that I've added. Of course before the rain the leaves were dry. It is a muddy mess as my main coop and nursery coop sit on either side of two trees. When its not a downpour, Will I be able to add more mulch on top even though its wet? Do I need to wait for it to dry before I add anything? Do I need to rake or mix anything? Normally this season it has only rained a day or so then everything dries out. It has been awhile since we have gotten this much rain. Next summer I plan on reinforcing and covering the run. Luckily there's no ponding or flooding so I know drainage is ok. The bad part is besides what I have added, topsoil, dirt, etc, underneath all that is red clay. As we don't have soil here. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[GracePoultry]

Muddy runs are the worst. I like to get wood stove or stall pellets that expand when wet to soak up the water and than add more bedding or mulch on top.
The chickens will peck around at them for a few minutes but they will realize they can't eat them pretty quickly. here's a pretty popular brand.

 

[linguini]

I just pour mulch onto the muddy ground in the run, they work well. I also use pave stones to make a path for human to walk on. pave stones are cheap from Home Depot, and got my mulch free from tree cutters.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Add wet mulch to the mix is fine. I'd just dump it over the top and it should help provide a drier surface on top of the water and muck.

 

[paintedChix]

If you can't get other products right away, to fix the run, you can use pallets to raise chickens & yourself up out of mud & water.