outdoor substrate

[countrygoddess]

I have 6 hens and enclose their house/yard with electric fencing from Premier 1. It's awesome fencing--has kept the raccoons, foxes, fishers, weasels, dogs, and coyotes out. Last year (2007) I moved the fence around so that they would have fresh grass and it worked okay because they were still young and hadn't reached their full size; they weren't as harsh on the grass as they are now. This year I stopped moving it around because they had torn up the grass so quickly that I had nowhere to move the fence to. So instead, I left it in place and fed them handfuls of grass everyday (it's funny to hold it up over their heads and watch them jump--hee hee!).

NOW here is the problem: it has been rainy and it has snowed and melted twice already this fall and their yard is FOUL. It's a slurry like I've never seen before. Today I put down a thick layer of straw to cover it, it was so gross. My husband and I talked about it, and I know that in the spring, I'm going to move the fence again, plant new grass, and let the grass grow and fill in for the summer before I let the girls back onto it. But for the rest of the yard--the parts I won't be reseeding--what can I put down that won't turn into a mudpit? Straw doesn't last, sand absorbs too much water, gravel would be too hard on their feet... What can I use?

Any ideas would be SO welcome!! Thank you!

-Heather

 

[newchickmom]

I don't have any other ideas.

When my chicken yard gets muddy, I just scatter hay around. I add more as needed.

 

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

You might want to try wood shavings, I have heard that some people have had success with those.

I personally think I might try sand.

 

[ricky bamboo]

i have a similar situation in the pen. a slurry is a good word for it. i go to a furniture maker down the road and buy wood shavings for a dollar in stuffed feed bags. spread it around the pen and you are done.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Sand in my opinion would be best, yes it does get wet but its easy to rake the poop out every other day and add it to a compost. Works great for me. Hay, straw, or pine shavings would be a wet mess if it got rained on and not to mention the potential mold issue. I have sand in my run and all i add to it is DE every week or so and have never had any smelly issues so far

 

[donnap1967]

My run is a slurry too....a smelly muddy mess that will suck your shoes right off. We have had some super heavy downpours and a lot of rain for the last couple weeks. I had leaves thrown in there to keep them out of the mud a little and eventually that helped make a gross sludge.

Tonight I went in, raked out the old leaves, used a shovel to turn the dirt over a bit. Our area is full of rock so I didnt get very far down into the ground, but just enough to turn and bury the mud. Then I sprinkled in a whole bunch of stall dry and put fresh leaves over that.

Temporary solution while I pray for the rain to stop.

I don't know what else to put down out there.

I think rain will just wash the sand away. I sure hope the stall dry helps with the smell before hubby starts complaining.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

You could try tilling it up every so often..... That is if you can get a tiller in there. Soil that is kept loose can drain faster than packed soil. You can mix in a lot of wood shaving as you do to keep it from packing down as fast.
I use a small shovel to keep mine busted up in the smaller pens.

 

[mamaKate]

Would driveway chat work?

 

[countrygoddess]

Quote:
I've never heard of stall dry. I'm going to look into it--my husband and I wondered if there was such a thing. There are lots of dairy farms around here and we knew that the farmers used something to keep the area just outside the barns--where the cows tend to loiter--from sucking the cows right under. We just didn't know what it would have been.

As I type this the news is reporting temps dropping into the 30's for tomorrow, so I won't have to deal with this problem too much longer--thank goodness!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

-Heather

 

[countrygoddess]

Quote:
Not sure what driveway chat is... I just did a google search for it and didn't come up with anything right off. What is it?