Muddy slanted run

[Hudsonsgirl]

We have a dog pen sheltering our wooden chicken coop. The land is slanted so between the chickens scratching and the obvious tilt of the ground, straw always ends up and the lower side of the coop. This makes for a very very muddy run area. I have slipped trying to re rake the straw back and collecting eggs. So my question is, could I put pea gravel in the run then layer it with straw? Any ideas to get the pea gravel to not slide to the lower end?? Its my first winter with the chickens and ducks so any help would be super appreciated. I don't like seeing them all walking around in muddy straw. Thank you!

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC. I think something like base rock would be better than pea gravel.

 

[perkolator]

Gravel would be a bad idea, it will just get spread around. If you're going to put effort into moving materials around, just put down more wood chips. I put down like 6 wheelbarrows of gravel around the perimeter of my coop, on top of the horizontal anti-dig skirt -- chickens spread all that around in literally days once they got access to it. Heck, they'll even manage to move around firewood chunks, bricks, and cobble stones with their digging activities.

I have sloped terrain, over time most of the run bedding materials migrate to the downhill side if you let it, or don't have enough material on the ground. Simply keeping up with the organic content has changed the soil type and now the bedding doesn't slide around sitting on top, it's decomposed into it and stays put a lot better than before. Anyways, I experimented with adding some "weirs" to my run and they definitely made an improvement by slowing down the movement of material to the downhill side. Mine were made from logs and cinder blocks, but any material would work as long as it mostly stays in place. I'd try it, since it's such a simple solution.

 

[Hudsonsgirl]

Gravel would be a bad idea, it will just get spread around. If you're going to put effort into moving materials around, just put down more wood chips. I put down like 6 wheelbarrows of gravel around the perimeter of my coop, on top of the horizontal anti-dig skirt -- chickens spread all that around in literally days once they got access to it. Heck, they'll even manage to move around firewood chunks, bricks, and cobble stones with their digging activities.

I have sloped terrain, over time most of the run bedding materials migrate to the downhill side if you let it, or don't have enough material on the ground. Simply keeping up with the organic content has changed the soil type and now the bedding doesn't slide around sitting on top, it's decomposed into it and stays put a lot better than before. Anyways, I experimented with adding some "weirs" to my run and they definitely made an improvement by slowing down the movement of material to the downhill side. Mine were made from logs and cinder blocks, but any material would work as long as it mostly stays in place. I'd try it, since it's such a simple solution.

I have a lot of old barn wood that was left on the property when we moved in our house. Its just decomposing in a pile. Could I grab some of that and put it on the ground, then add my straw on top? Then when the ground gets mucky again, I could add more layers of wood pieces and another layer of straw? Would this idea work?? Thank you!!!

 

[aart]

There are a few serious considerations here.
How slanted is the ground, pics would help.
Is run covered or is rain contributing to the 'muck'?
How is drainage in and around run?
Where in this world are you located?

Pieces of old boards with straw on top sounds like trouble.


I find using coarse wood chipping from a tree trimmer work excellent as run bedding.
I have a bit of a slope too and it does migrate downhill, I just fork some back up to the top occasionally.

 

[Hudsonsgirl]

There are a few serious considerations here.
How slanted is the ground, pics would help.
Is run covered or is rain contributing to the 'muck'?
How is drainage in and around run?
Where in this world are you located?

Pieces of old boards with straw on top sounds like trouble.


I find using coarse wood chipping from a tree trimmer work excellent as run bedding.
I have a bit of a slope too and it does migrate downhill, I just fork some back up to the top occasionally.

There are a few serious considerations here.
How slanted is the ground, pics would help.
Is run covered or is rain contributing to the 'muck'?
How is drainage in and around run?
Where in this world are you located?

Pieces of old boards with straw on top sounds like trouble.


I find using coarse wood chipping from a tree trimmer work excellent as run bedding.
I have a bit of a slope too and it does migrate downhill, I just fork some back up to the top occasionally.

I can add pics of the coop later. But as the rest of the questions...

1. The pen is covered with chicken wire and heavy duty tarp for the roof. (This Fall Im adding clear 14 mil tarps around the pen's Northwest side to protect from winter weather)
Drainage around the coop pen seems okay. Meaning no puddles accumulating. There is a buried drainage pipe about two feet from the upper side of the pen that absorbs and redirects access water away from the pen. So most of the water problem is just from heavy rains getting the ground all muddy.

2. I live in East Tennessee.

 

[aart]

Will wait for pics.

I live in East Tennessee.

Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[perkolator]

I have a lot of old barn wood that was left on the property when we moved in our house. Its just decomposing in a pile. Could I grab some of that and put it on the ground, then add my straw on top? Then when the ground gets mucky again, I could add more layers of wood pieces and another layer of straw? Would this idea work?? Thank you!!!

You wouldn't be adding straw on top of the wood, you'd set the wood down across the ground to create a "dam" that catches material. Taller you make it, the more material it keeps from migrating downhill. Pieces like beams or posts could just go on the ground, but if it's something like a flat plank you may need to figure out a way to prop it upright, such as staking it in place or wedging with heavy objects like rocks or bricks. When it's doing it's job by holding back material, the terrain will pretty much look terraced/stepped

 

[Hudsonsgirl]

Here is the coop pen. Ninja on the left and if anyone could tell me what type of rooster he is?? Or is it a hen?? Then there's Cluck, Layla is on the perch and Stripe is at the door.

 

[aart]

Bird to far left is a female.

Slope doesn't look that bad, at least left to right.
Maybe it's sloped more back to front(hard to tell from pic.
You just need some better bedding in there.
...and it's so small not that big of a deal the rake it back up hill when needed