Oregon

[Farmer Viola]

Hi Oregonians, how are you all fairing in this muddy season? We are having our first rainy season at our new property and running into a LOT of mud in the coop and the free-range area! Our last property didn't have this issue, but now we know..

We have the opportunity to get a truckload of pine wood pole peelings, which are large wood chips shaved off trees to form telephone poles. They are untreated free scraps.

I'm curious if anyone has done this before, and what potential problems might come from using this as flooring in the coop and run area. Bad idea? Good idea?

Their coop is a big barn, and one corner stays dry but the other 75% is extremely muddy. My thought is that it would drain well, and build up the floor level higher in the wet areas. During the dry season we want to trench around the barn so it stays drier. But I want to find a way to get them up out of the mud now while it's the rainy season.

this is what the material looks like:

 

[donrae]

I'd jump on those chips. I think you'll be very happy with them and they'll help your mud management nicely..

I hate mud.

 

[SusanD]

I'm thinking on an alternatives to straw that will keep the mud down as well as straw does, so would be curious to hear those work for you. They look like the would have the advantages of straw without the risks (developing a blocked crop from straw eating).

 

[Farmer Viola]

I'd jump on those chips. I think you'll be very happy with them and they'll help your mud management nicely..

I hate mud.

Thanks very much for your opinion! I think we're going to go for it. The mud here is BAD!

I'm thinking on an alternatives to straw that will keep the mud down as well as straw does, so would be curious to hear those work for you.  They look like the would have the advantages of straw without the risks (developing a blocked crop from straw eating).

I have had to cull for crop impaction from straw too it is the worst, saddest thing. Never again

 

[SusanD]

Thanks. I've never had to cull for straw impaction issues, but I don't want to if it can be helped. We put a lot of fresh straw down today (the old straw had to be cleared out because it had been there a long time), so I am anxious to see what they do with it tomorrow.

 

[Farmer Viola]

I felt very guilty. Now we only use it in nest boxes. I would think that they wouldn't eat straw, since there's grass all around, but we had to learn the hard way. I tried giving her oil down her beak to move it through, and massaging it by hand to break it up but in the end, I couldn't fix it

Anyhow, will report back on how the pole peelings work out!

 

[SusanD]

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I will definitely try to keep an eye on mine, so it doesn't get to that point. I expect that we've been very lucky so far.

 

[MightFly]

Salem, Oregon. I have a mini flock of ducks, and wild turkeys that like to forage in my front yard(they think they own the block)!

 

[MightFly]

We've got mud like crazy too! I'm new to this but I've been using blue grass all year with great success. My ducks make great neat little nests out of it, and any mess falls below away from thier ducky butts and the eggs look nice and are clean. I use an old grid wall and weave the grass tightly in to make a thatch. My ducks use it as a ramp when they feel like sleeping in the sun and like to build their nests underneath. Maybe you can do something like that on the muddy side if you put the thatch up on feet. Kind of like a floating floor. As an aside, bamboo is great for planting in muddy areas, and the ducks love the heck out of it as do the local birds. I know it has a bad reputation (my neighbors often express great concern over my neatly kept stand of bamboo while their English ivy attacks my yard and home) but it is undeserved in my opinion.

Hi Oregonians, how are you all fairing in this muddy season? We are having our first rainy season at our new property and running into a LOT of mud in the coop and the free-range area! Our last property didn't have this issue, but now we know.. We have the opportunity to get a truckload of pine wood pole peelings, which are large wood chips shaved off trees to form telephone poles. They are untreated free scraps. I'm curious if anyone has done this before, and what potential problems might come from using this as flooring in the coop and run area. Bad idea? Good idea? Their coop is a big barn, and one corner stays dry but the other 75% is extremely muddy. My thought is that it would drain well, and build up the floor level higher in the wet areas. During the dry season we want to trench around the barn so it stays drier. But I want to find a way to get them up out of the mud now while it's the rainy season. this is what the material looks like:

 

[beginnergirl]

Hey, Lynn.  Signed up for the beginning first aid on the 24th.  I'm actually getting my husband to come, too.  Miracle of miracles.  I'm looking forward to it.

How did the class go? So helpful for me. I will take her advanced class. Hope she brought her chickens to class!