Show me your solutions for a muddy mucky chicken yard!

[aart]

I have a local tree service coming to dump their chips. I need them for the gardens and, after aging, the run. The fellow from the tree service was happy to have a place to get rid of them without dump fees.

That's great!
Many folks don't have a good place to keep a big pile of chips......
...and the tree guys can go carte blanche and just keep dumping after you want them to stop.

 

[Taj_MaChicken]

Bookmarking for later. We've had so much rain here that the run hasn't had a chance to dry. We rented some equipment yesterday and was trenching our driveway for our culvert pipe, and dug a little further into the yard where there's a drainage problem, hoping to divert some of the water to the ravine... hoping the sun comes out long enough to dry up the yard

 

[trumpeting_angel]

...and the tree guys can go carte blanche and just keep dumping after you want them to stop.

I suppose that happens. But this guy lives up the road and around the corner, and in our little town that wouldn't help his reputation one bit.

 

[aart]

I suppose that happens. But this guy lives up the road and around the corner, and in our little town that wouldn't help his reputation one bit.

Sounds perfect...I am jealous.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

The tree guys did haul away a load of stump shreddings before my wife reminded them that they didn't have to, but still got about a 5 yard pile that should work REALLY nice in the highest traffic/muckiest part of my run.

My 7 year old is loading the wheel barrow every day so I can go dump it into the run when I get home from work.

 

[aart]

My 7 year old is loading the wheel barrow every day so I can go dump it into the run when I get home from work.

Boy, that brings back memories!

 

[HSoto]

How big is the mud area you're dealing with currently?
Is any part of it covered?
For a temporary fix, you can sacrifice a plywood sheet or two (or even some pallets) and pile the straw or shavings on top. They'll still scratch it around but at least it won't get all muddy, it worked for me before I made my permanent fix. You can also add lots of additional perches so they can get their feet dry. Mud is not a healthy environment for chickens.

I'm so stranger to mud or standing water, and I've tried all manner of remedies, but when you live in an area with a 6+ month rainy season.... not every "solution" works. At one point I even had water flooding into my covered areas.

I think a very key factor is having a gutter and directing the water away. The runoff from even a small roof can be quite significant and will puddle next to your coop or run and probably flood into it. I have a rain chain and collection bucket with a hose that leads to my garden beds. A french drain could help for other areas that aren't affected by roof runoff. I use pine shaving in my covered run, and before my gutter was installed it did flood in there and the pine shavings were slippery and gross. I can't imagine if direct rainfall poured on it all winter.

So for my narrow uncovered chicken yard, I use a very thick layer of wood chips. But you've already experienced your chickens scratching the bedding and mixing it with mud below and I've seen wood chips just sink away and disappear over a short time as well. Then I found this idea: Mud Management and copied it. When the ground is reasonably dry, you need to level it and cover it with a barrier, I used pvc poultry netting. This isn't meant to be a predator proofing, just a means to keep the wood chips from sinking and keep chickens from mixing the chips and the mud together. I didn't want to use wire fencing for the barrier because I've seen it rust and deteriorate with prolonged exposure to the ground and that could hurt my chickens if they scratched it.
View attachment 1765538 View attachment 1765539 View attachment 1765540

This is a close up after one year, and in the middle of the "mud" season:
View attachment 1765541 Can you see the mud? Me neither!

The rain rinses most of the poo and chickens turn it regularly and also make some pretty deep potholes, so I have to rake it level every so often.
View attachment 1765542

That's awesome!! I have tried so many types of bedding because our run is all open and everything ends up part of the mud pit. Thank you.