Pea gravel

[Sissy]

Anyone using pea gravel in their dirt runs.
We have had so much rain we want to clean up our runs making them better for our flock. ..to keep them dry,
we do have a tarp cover but with the winds it still got muddy. any ideas?

 

[allison finch]

I would think it would be pretty hard on their feet. I would use sand instead. It drains well and is much softer. Just MHO.

 

[Sissy]

the playyard sand sure helped a lot.
thanks,
i used it for their dust box,
but never in the entire run..
great idea..

 

[Ridgerunner]

Pat goes into great detail on drying up muddy runs. You may get some good ideas from this link.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run

If you put pea gravel under the sand, the sand will last a lot longer. Otherwise, it will disappear into the mud. It will still help, it just won't last as long.

 

[chickenshagg]

I put a thin layer of Pea Gravel in my run just for the same reason that you stated, MUD! I have not had any problems with it. I just put enough in there so that the chickens would not be in mud when it rains. They have some areas where they scratch it away to get to the dirt and those area are always changing. I do see them laying on the gravel all the time though. Pea gravel is small and rounded so they aren't going to scratch or cut their feet on it. As a matter of fact Pea Gravel is often used in childrens play grounds around slides, swings and such.