Muddy Run Question

[Beth G.]

Hi All,

I've been raising chickens for years and one thing I can never get a handle or control of is one run I have. It always seems like when it rains out for more than one day at a time my run is a slimy mud pit! I've tried many different things but, just can't seem to get rid of this problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions in helping cut back on this slippery mudd? I really don't need to fall down in my chickens run face first into ahhhhh yeah well you know what I mean,......

I'd love any and all suggestions and I do not care if I've tried them before.

Thanks!!

 

[uncle rico]

try throwing some sort of grass seed in there and keep the chickens out for a couple weeks. the grass should help cut down on the mud. this should help quite a bit. when my run becomes muddy, I just keep the chickens out for a couple weeks until the grass grows back. hope this helps

 

[Beth G.]

Quote:
Thanks that is good advice, I just would have a heck of a time keeping them out of it b/c everynight they have to go through the run to get to the coop

Not to mention I think my ducks think they are chickens b/c they refuse to go into their coop at night and keep going into the chicken run with my chickens but, can't figure out how to get up on the roost in the coop so they lay outside the door!!! Silly ducks I tell ya

 

[P-Funk]

Sand does wonders. It won't grow anything but the chicks can still take dust baths in it.

 

[ozarkmomma]

We use the deep litter method and when I clean out the coop, I throw all the shavings, straw, and hay out in the run. The hens love to peck and dig through it looking for goodies, and it helps with the mud.

 

[PamB]

I use sand and it does get muddy, but not terribly. My runs on my new coop will be covered though.

 

[BirdsinBethel]

Is it just the water coming down from the sky that's making the mud, or do you have a drainage problem too? Maybe see if rain is coming from elsewhere in the yard (I know I had some veritable streams of rain going through the grass into the area where my coop is going); you might be able to dig a channel to divert that from the coop, and maybe dig some drainage channels to the water that's already in your run has somewhere better to go?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have the same problem, as I live in the rainy Pacific NW.

What I do, is sprinkle sand (I buy it at Home Depot in bags) on my walkways to the coop inside the run. It makes a huge difference. I only sprinkle one bag for an area about 6 feet long by 2 feet wide, to give you an idea. I also like to use it around my waterers where I am walking all the time.

I have to do it every winter. It doesn't seem to hang around from year to year. This past winter I went through about 4 bags, worth every penny.

I have found that wherever I throw old pine shavings turns into terrible muddy smelly goo.

 

[Denninmi]

I picked up free pallets from the local water softener supply place at the end of the road, put those down, then put a layer of discarded carpet, upside down so the backing was up, and then put my deep litter on top of that.

 

[jimmythechicken]

if you can get a roto tiller in there i would try that sometimes those chickens pack the dirt down an the ground cant absorb the water.