Run is one big mud puddle. Is this dangerous to the hens?

[Jolyn]

I had this same problem and posted about it last week. I went the sand route and it worked great.

I went to Home Depot and bought 50 lb bags of sand. They were about $4....

It works great. It fills in the puddles.

 

[FrChuckW]

If you can, get a small rototiller and till the ground in the run first, then then rake it smooth, put a layer of wood chips over it then till those into the soil, rake smooth again. then get some peat and till that in. Rake smooth and then put sand over that.

What is happening is that your top layer of ground is probably sitting on a bed of clay subsoil and thus not draining. So to improve the drainage in your run you have to adjust the soil. The combination of the tilling and the woodchips and peat will break up the clay subsoil eventually by encouraging worms and other insects to burrow in it and mix with the clay. They provide free protein! Also you can throw grass seed down before you put the sand in. This will grow up through the sand and provide your birds with fresh greens and if any stray seeds from their feed falls on the ground it could also possible germinate.

Once you get that done you can place straw or hay in sections of the run and that will also help to break up the soil eventually, but will also provide something for the grass seed to grow up through.

 

[lovemychix]

Quote:
You get grass to grow. My chickens dig all day long! I think they are planning an escape. I have been keeping an eye on them.

 

[patandchickens]

Word of warning: the 'loosen up the soil so it drains better' approach works fine if you are somewhere it will then drain, e.g. you're able to punch through a hardpan layer and/or are on basically sandy soil in the first place.

However, on intrinsically clayey soil over a deep clay subsoil, tilling or otherwise breaking up the soil will be a big mistake, as it will just create a deeper spongier bathtub that will hold more water and stay wet much longer than it did before. On clay, where punching a downwards hole for water to drain is just not going to happen, you really need to leave the soil alone and raise your animals up above the mud on gravel (and put the gravel in when the soil is DRY, so the gravel remains separate from the soil -- all these people saying 'I put a couple bags of sand into my mudpuddles and it works great', no offense but I think you may be singing a slightly different tune in a month or three

)

Also, why is your run muddy? There is often a lot you can do to prevent water from pooling there. Install gutters on the coop and adjacent buildings, with downspouts to divert water well away (nonperforated black corrugated drainage pipe works really well as flexible 'elephant trunk' downspouts), and trench around the edge of the run to divert surface runoff to a lower and farther away place. I should have mentioned that in my earlier post -- water diversion is a BIG part of mud management.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[MandyH]

SAND, SAND, SAND, AND MORE SAND. We have gone to using sand in the coops and runs and WILL NEVER USE ANYTHING ELSE. We pay $55 per dump truck load and it's well worth every penny. Don't waste your time with wood chips and straw and all that crap. Go with the sand.

 

[FrChuckW]

Depending on where you live, if it is in a more modern area subdivision type community, most homes once built, the yards are filled in with fill dirt before sod is laid down for the grass. Fill dirt can contain all different kinds of materials in it, not all of it good.

If you are living in a rural setting, then you can have soil analysis done by your county extension agent for little to no cost. You can also have that done by them if you live in the city. Pat from Canada gave some excellent advice regarding trenching around the runs, putting gutters around the coops and downspouts with lines running away from them. You can actually set up a catch barrel to use the rainwater in the garden on the downspouts as well. Or if you live in the country, and have a lower part of the property you can build a holding pond to contain the runoff.

I should have been clearer in my advice about tilling the soil in the run. You actually want to get down to the subsoil when you till. If you are, as Pat stated on hardrock or clay, then you need to put a layer of gravel down first, then put some landscaping cloth over that, then start by putting a layer of wood chips, peat and dirt mixed together down first. Mix this well then you can build up the soil in the run before putting the sand down.

You can also use gutters to trench around the runs, just put hardware clothe over them to keep debris out of them.

Hopefully once I get started on the coop and run I will be able to take pictures and post them of the work in progress.