Muddy run

[Mrs Flear]

So my girls has turned there run into a mud bath with all the heavy rain! Any ideas What I can do so they aren't standin in mud all day? Thought of sand, sawdust and garden woodchips. Any other ideas?

 

[silkie10]

Straw has been what I've been told on my last post.

 

[ellenscoop]

You could put down wood pallets and rubber mats on top

 

[llombardo]

If you think that is bad try a duck area. I thought I had them all set but somehow all my stone is now part of the mud pit.

For chickens--I use mulch and grass clippings and it works well. They are no where near as messy as the ducks.

 

[Mrs Flear]

If you think that is bad try a duck area. I thought I had them all set but somehow all my stone is now part of the mud pit.

For chickens--I use mulch and grass clippings and it works well. They are no where near as messy as the ducks.

Well my two must think they are ducks we used to have them on half concrete half grass and the concrete disappeared with all the mud if I remember later I will get a picture.

 

[Mountain_Miss]

I recently had to contend with a muddy run after the ladies scratched all the grass down to nothing (had been waiting for that day to come.. ha!) I read a handful of posts on here that refer to making your run similar to a forest floor and it makes total sense. Utilized pine bark nuggets and cypress mulch, along with some dried, fallen leaves from around my property. Dumped everything inside the run, with some random sticks/twigs, dried grass, plant trimmings. Lots of different things and sizes to facilitate drainage.

We just had 2 days of solid rain from Hurricane Florence leftovers and the uncovered run looks SO much better. It dries out quickly on top and the ladies love to scratch in it and turn the material over.. incorporating their poop too, so zero smell. They're no longer tromping around in consistently wet mud. And as Autumn carries on, I'll continue to add mulched leaves and grass clippings and maybe even try to save some for over winter.

 

[llombardo]

I recently had to contend with a muddy run after the ladies scratched all the grass down to nothing (had been waiting for that day to come.. ha!) I read a handful of posts on here that refer to making your run similar to a forest floor and it makes total sense. Utilized pine bark nuggets and cypress mulch, along with some dried, fallen leaves from around my property. Dumped everything inside the run, with some random sticks/twigs, dried grass, plant trimmings. Lots of different things and sizes to facilitate drainage.

We just had 2 days of solid rain from Hurricane Florence leftovers and the uncovered run looks SO much better. It dries out quickly on top and the ladies love to scratch in it and turn the material over.. incorporating their poop too, so zero smell. They're no longer tromping around in consistently wet mud. And as Autumn carries on, I'll continue to add mulched leaves and grass clippings and maybe even try to save some for over winter.

Agreed. I will have tons of leaves shortly to put in there.

I literally put a pile in there and they spread it. It keeps them busy for a couple days.

 

[blackdog043]

What @Mountain_Miss described, deep litter in the run works great.

 

[aart]

Agreed. I will have tons of leaves shortly to put in there.

I literally put a pile in there and they spread it. It keeps them busy for a couple days.

Make sure you have some bigger wood chunks in there too...
...too many leaves can make for a slimy smelly mess. BTDT.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Agree with the others. I also add pine needles. They dry quickly. We have a few pine and spruce trees, and every few weeks, I rake up a pile of needles and dry leaves from other trees and throw them in the run. I also add twigs and dried out sticks from the woods. The chickens break those up in no time. We just had 6 inches of rain in less than two days, and the run was wet but not too muddy.