Sand!?!

[MoonFaeree]

my run is mud right now. Stinky flooded mud. I’m guessing I should switch to sand and somehow raise it... I don’t want my girls getting sick . Any advice!?! Which sand/ pebbles?? Thanks so much!!

 

[Chick Chick McGee]

It might not be a bad idea to move the run to higher ground and if you don’t it might help to raise the ground.

 

[MoonFaeree]

My yard is pretty level. It’s just the girls ate all the vegetation so there’s nothing to soak up the water.. but I think I should build it up a bit somehow...

 

[50-45-1]

That is what i was thinking. Is your coop movable?
I have a friend with a movable coop that moves his coop to a new spot each year and uses the old spot as garden. He has a terrific garden.
if you cant move your coop could you move the run in a differnt direction off the existing coop?
Sand is good for drainage but not much interst for the chickens. I deffinately would not do pebbles, to hard on there feet.
How about top soil?
Maybe someone else her will know a better option

 

[MoonFaeree]

I did move the run but ow I can’t attach it to the coop. They really just sleep their and of course lay their eggs . We bought a smaller coop when they were chicks. They still have access to that smaller one. They usually free range in the am and pm.

 

[Chick Chick McGee]

If you want to raise the ground I would use soil or sod, preferably sod because it wouldn’t wash away as easily.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Put down about a foot or so of undyed woodchips. Aged if you can get them, fresh if you can't.

You can get fresh woodchips from local tree companies. Many will deliver a truckload (10-15 cubic yards) of them to your house for free. This is what is in my chicken pen. This will put about 10" over 800sqft, so plan accordingly.

The wood chips will absorb a lot of water and drain the rest easily. They will breed insects that the chickens can dig for. Pill bugs and worms will love it, and your chickens will love those. The carbon in the wood chips and the mixing the chickens will naturally do with digging will combine the wood chips with their feces, composting them rapidly to eliminate odors and reduce pathogens by building a diverse mircoflora environment.

In a few years they will have broken down into the best garden soil in the world. Dig it out and put it on your plants or sell it. Black gold.

Sand will get mucky too.

 

[staceyj]

figure out a way to fix the drainage issue first because if it’s low lying, even sand won’t solve your problem.

After that, I can tell you
You DO NOT want “play sand”

You want river sand or contractor sand because you do not want the particles to be
a. Dusty (bad for chickens)
b. of uniform size (lock tightly together and won’t allow water to run through)

 

[TheGoldenGirlz]

Get a bunch of wood chips and throw it in there. I had a horribly flooded coop until I did that. Now my coop is clean and doesn’t smell. I also threw in some pine straw and grass clippings

 

[Chick Chick McGee]

I agree with ChocolateMouse!