Muddy runs and coops

[Tremae]

I have had a tremendous amount of rain lately and my chicken pen has become very muddy. Does the chickens walking around in the mud and drinking muddy/poopy water affect the eggs in any way? Is it ok to eat them? Any information will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Smileybans]

Well a muddy run can lead to bumblefoot and chickens scratch after laying an egg. So I would think that if your run is very muddy then it’s getting into the nests and onto the eggs. Resulting in dirty nests and eggs. These can be washed but it’s much easier to deal with the run than to continue to wash eggs.

When all of the snow melted here I had a problem with my run being very muddy also. I solved the issue by putting down pea gravel and mulch. The mulch stays dry, since it’s sitting on a layer of gravel, while the dirt under is what gets wet. I also covered part of my run.

 

[HollyWoozle]

We're in the UK but had a lot of mud this last winter. We put down some hardwood chips in the muddy areas (not bark chips which can carry spores) and they have been brilliant! I laid about 700 litres worth in November and have been really happy with them.

 

[Tremae]

Thank you for the information. Hopefully the rain has stopped long enough for me to get this taken care of. I just wasn't sure if the sloppy mess would get into the eggs and it would not be safe to eat them.

 

[dawg53]

Put sand in your pen and coop, no more nasty mud puddles. Wash the eggs off and simply cook them as you normally would. Cooking kills bacteria etc...