need advice re. muddy run

cackilacky

Songster
10 Years
Aug 20, 2009
105
1
111
North Carolina
Our run is covered by a metal roof, which was working nicely to keep out the rain. Then, a couple of weeks ago, we had a few days of sideways rain, something crazy like 9 inches in 2 days b/c of Tropical Storm Ida. Since then, our run has been a muddy, disgusting mess. Because of the roof, it gets little light and just hasn't dried out completely. Is there anything I can do? I threw some straw in there, but it just got gross. Can I add some dry dirt on top? Thanks for any advice.
 
Sand is probably your best option.

Straw works if you have a use for nasty, wet, poopy straw, like bringing it over to my compost pile.
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Otherwise, using straw is making a lot of work for yourself raking and replacing.
 
pour ethanol all over and light it...watch out cuz the flames are basically invisible...might not be the best idea but it will work! How about fans blowing on it
 
Thanks for your reply. Yes, found out the hard way that straw doesn't work. Should I just throw some play sand in the run and rake it out?
 
I don't have a covered run yet but I put a bale of straw in and just let the chickens spread it around. I do cut the wires off first but am planning to put one in and not cut them off. That way it will take them some time to tear it apart. Keeps them busy for awhile.
 
I Recommend Getting Sand... We Just Invested This And Put In About 3+ Inches In Just To Make Sure It Days Relatively Dry. When It Does Get Wet, Sand Dries Out Far Faster Than Dirt.....
I've Learned That From Byc And There Are Some Really Awesome Posts On Here About That.
Before We Were Able To Get The Sand, We Put Straw Down All The Time In The Run Because It Gets Wet And Nasty... However, The Sand Is Awesome.
 
I'm in your same boat (no pun intented)....but after what seems like weeks of rain (central MD) my run is a DISASTER!!!....I've had to dig run off ditches, and put in "elevated walkways"....strips of ply on logs and crates, just so the chicks arn't standing in it.....it will have to wait till spring, but it WILL get built up with gravel and sand.....

My run is beside my garage, and covered with plastic corrogated roof, was great and shaded in the summer, but is becoming a horrible mess in the fall/winter. not a whole lot I can do now with the soup...

as a "temparory" fix, when I get a day or two of dry weather, I pull some "dirty" shavings out of the coop and build an island in the run.....works till the next good wash out.

they must not be to miserible though....5-6 eggs a day out of 6 chickens....must be doing something right, or they are just very tolerant...LOL....

TNT

p.s. maybe I should have gotten ducks...LOL...
 
I would rake out the straw you have in there, and put it in my compost pile
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... and then add the sand. That's better than putting the sand in on top of the straw and leaving the straw to deteriorate, you'll have a mess if you do that.

Playground sand is expensive. Unless you have a very small run, see about getting a more coarse sand by truckload from a landscaper or building supplier. If you can put in about 2"-3" of sand, you can just run a rake over it periodically and you'll have a low maintenance run. If you've got a concrete supplier in your area, you might be able to get a load of sand delivered. Get out your tape measure and figure out how many yards you'll need.

If your run is small, any hardware store that sells ready-mix concrete will also sell coarse sand by the bag.
 
I buy "stall dry" and spread a couple cups worth over the muddy areas (it absorbs the moisture pretty well and will help dry it out) then add a few handfuls of wood shavngs on top of that. The stall dry is about $10 per 50 lb bag I think and he wood shavings were $7 for a large 8 cubic foot bag. Straw absorbs too much moisture & just gets spongy so I've found this works much btter. I may go ahead and add a couple bags of sand as well as I'm sure that will help with drying/absorbing the moisture as well.
 

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