People in the UK (and elsewhere) how do you deal (cheaply) with a muddy run?!

[Chickenman MAN]

I have a run... I live in the UK so very wet. How do people deal with mud cheaply and effectively?

 

[piminuse]

I'm in Oregon which is considered to be one of the gloomier states in the US. We get a lot of rain through Fall/Winter, and during my initial coop research found that other people in my climate did one or two things: covered the run and/or changed the run ground material.

We initially only had dirt, and entertained the idea of sand (a very popular choice for wet climates), but we opted for more of a "deep litter" type run where we put down lots of yard debris (leaves, twigs, pine needles etc) to create a barrier from the mud itself. This keeps the birds entertained as they can scratch around, and it also prevents them from stirring up mud pits. We've only have one week of heavy rain so far this season, but it worked out well for us. The perk to this system is it also acts as compost for the garden next year.

Best of luck!

 

[Chickenman MAN]

I'm in Oregon which is considered to be one of the gloomier states in the US. We get a lot of rain through Fall/Winter, and during my initial coop research found that other people in my climate did one or two things: covered the run and/or changed the run ground material.

We initially only had dirt, and entertained the idea of sand (a very popular choice for wet climates), but we opted for more of a "deep litter" type run where we put down lots of yard debris (leaves, twigs, pine needles etc) to create a barrier from the mud itself. This keeps the birds entertained as they can scratch around, and it also prevents them from stirring up mud pits. We've only have one week of heavy rain so far this season, but it worked out well for us. The perk to this system is it also acts as compost for the garden next year.

Best of luck!

I like this idea! We have plenty of leaves and sticks.... the only issue is we only use an electic fence.... and leaves ect on it cause it to short out Plus sand would be too expensive as our run is rather large

 

[piminuse]

I like this idea! We have plenty of leaves and sticks.... the only issue is we only use an electic fence.... and leaves ect on it cause it to short out Plus sand would be too expensive as our run is rather large

We didn't use sand because of cost either--we had all the debris on-site already, so why not put it to good use?

Perhaps you can dig a small "trench" around the perimeter just before the wires so that they're not as high up and won't interfere? Or could you create a small barrier with spare wood/logs to pen the debris in?

 

[Chickenman MAN]

We didn't use sand because of cost either--we had all the debris on-site already, so why not put it to good use?

Perhaps you can dig a small "trench" around the perimeter just before the wires so that they're not as high up and won't interfere? Or could you create a small barrier with spare wood/logs to pen the debris in?

Logs could certainly work and we will need to cut down some trees..... I'll post some pics