Show me your solutions for a muddy mucky chicken yard!

[feathermaid]

They are going put about 6 inches of gravel down, to allow the rain time to soak into the ground without making everything muddy. On top of the 6 inches of gravel they will lay a 2 inch layer of pine shavings, so the chickens don't have to walk on gravel.

They are also installing a roof over their run, the roof will be installed with gutters, with the runoff from the roof being drained into a pond nearby through an irrigation system.

I would never put gravel in my chicken run. What will they do when shavings, poop and gravel are all mixed together? It won't ever compost... I imagine it would be unpleasant for chickens to scratch through, too. Oh well, to each his own I guess. They must have a plan. Just the roof with proper drainage should allow for a nice dry dirt run... with shavings if they want.

 

[Doug in Colorado]

Our backyard was lawn. The chickens roam freely and it didn't take long for them to "scratch and eat" all of the lawn. Rather than restrict the backyard, I gave in and covered the grass with 18 tons of 3/8" pea gravel (one wheel barrow at a time!) It is 2" to 3" deep and the chickens LOVE it. They scratch and dig holes. After a few hours there are holes all over the back yard. At night we easily cover up the holes smooth so that they can do it all again the next day. They have the side yards that are still lawn. An area of about 18'x25' on each side of the house. They have an area that is treed and terraced that is just dirt. They scratch through dirt and assorted leaves and pine chips. This area is about 30'x100' so they still have plenty of room to dig in dirt for worms and roost in the low spruce tree limbs (ground height).

 

[aart]

Yes, when you only use leaves, that's what will happen. The same thing is gonna happen with your straw, eventually.

My thoughts exactly.
Keep and eye on the ground under that straw.

 

[aart]

I thought I read somewhere on BYC, that Pine shavings are a no no for chickens? Am I dismembering it?
Maybe not good for enclosed coop, but ok for runs?
We are having Biblical rains here and I have access to a nearly unlimited supply of free Pine shavings.

I believe you are dis-remembering.....you might be thinking of cedar shavings?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yeah I didnt think of mold issues just remember grandpa using it perhaps if there was a carport type covering would work better or maybe it doesn't have to stay dry at all?

My guess is it may depend on climate and perhaps the type of wood, types of molds in area, etc.

Like we get a lot of rain but no one covers their mulch piles around here. They dry out decently fast, at least on the surface and a couple inches down.

 

[aart]

My run use to be just sand and dirt and always got so muddy after spring and fall rains.

Is that run covered?

 

[OhZark Biddies]

I have a covered run with pine chips/shavings... and I’ve just had to bite my tongue when everyone else has been complaining about the mud the last several months, because I don’t want them to think I’m being smug....

But the Faverolles feathered feet have stayed nice and dry all winter and all spring... and it’s pretty much been wet here since November....

So I “smuggly” recommend a covered run or partially covered... if that’s an option.

I’ve just added a bag/bale of bedding here and there for the last year to build it up along with a couple bags of leaves this fall ...

... much of it was the larger horse bedding... some of it was the ‘easy pick’ style bedding... it’s worked quite well...

I have given them some peat moss to dust in a couple of times ... but now they just scratch down into the dirt below the bedding here and there...

Not sure if that helps, but it is what has worked for me.

 

[SabritHadid]

Hi Friends,

As can be expected the chicken yard is worn down to dirt/mud when it rains. Here in the NE, we've had a persistent pattern of rain with very few sunny days to dry anything out. I've been tossing fresh straw in the run every few days to try to cover the mud; but you know chickens they scratch it all around anyway. Ridiculously, I even go out in the evening with "my big chicken foot" (a rake) and move the straw back around. Call me crazy, it's okay. By now, the straw is part of the muck. We need a long stretch of sunny, dry weather (ha!) and some water management work which will come soon. We are also extending the electric fencing out to give them some green pasture soon.

At this point I need to get all the old straw out of there and do something different. It's gotta be a health hazard for them, and it's no fun to fall down in for me!

Until then, and after actually, what tips do you guys have for managing a muddy, mucky run?

* Different cover material? (straw, wood chips, shavings, pine needles, etc.?)
* Install sand or gravel somehow?
* Pavement? (Just kidding).

Pictures of your yards appreciated if you have them!

TIA!

Mulch... I get a local tree service guy to drop off his mulch, and place it in our muddy
areas with all the rain we have, I also throw bird seed mix into it, so green things come up for the chickens to eat.

 

[Cotton Hill Chick]

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

Wow, wonderful pictures and thanks for them and your description! I have indeed found a source for free wood chips from the town. I've mucked out the old straw (yuck) and have a few loads of chips down (what fits in containers in the back of my car - slow going!). The chips are MUCH better already; although as you note, the chickens scratch them into the mud. Plus, an ADDITIONAL CHALLENGE in our chix yard is a slight slope, so it all goes downhill toward the fence! LOL! Raking it back up periodically, good exercise. You mention roof runoff, yes that would be substantial and a gutter is a great idea, I will look into moving that source out of the main yard. Not much under cover yet; DH has a plan to build a covering structure for part of the yard... its on the list. I DO need good earthwork to enhance drainage too... clay soils here so nothing much drains and it just turns to squishy walking. I've begun to move around the space with an edger tool, just making small channels to begin to interrupt the water a bit; every little bit helps I hope! Thanks again for your description and photos! Big help!

 

[WhoDatChick]

Wood chips are my favorite.. I also add leaves, pine needles and pine shavings when needed.. the first two pics are my original run and it is just fabulous.. it has been raised from the continual adding of materials and the other pics are the new addition and I had to add bags of wood chips plus bags of pine shavings as it was flooding some.. but it will eventually end up the same as the old run.. all of the stuff breaks down and tuns to dirt basically... it also does not smell and only mildly when wet.. I got these wood chips from Lowe’s...