Show me your solutions for a muddy mucky chicken yard!

[ChickNanny13]

@paintedChix ... When were the last time you were here? The 70s are gone There are no more sugar plantations, pineapple fields, greenery replace by concrete buildings, private/no trespassing signs, alot of what we could find along the roads are no longer there. Unfortunately things have changed too much, the Hawaii you knew is gone

 

[FWC2019]

My run was a mud bath in the winter months and very slippy. So I put wood chips down.
This is what it was like before.
View attachment 1768159 View attachment 1768157
After the wood chip. I put about 4-6 inches down. View attachment 1768158It looks great! This was in February '18 so 18 month's later after the chickens have been digging! This is now. It's raining.
View attachment 1768164
It will be needing to be replaced this summer but it has worked incredibly well. Even in the hardest rainfall there is no chance of slipping over and the mud is minimal.

What kind of wood chips did you put down?

 

[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.

 

[CCUK]

What kind of wood chips did you put down?

We had a couple of trees cut down at the back of the farm and had a pile of chippings. They were a mix but mostly cedar I think.

 

[wvchickenchick311]

We put sand in ours it also acts like gritt. And it sucks up all the water.

 

[CluckingHillFarm]

I have tried so many things, but ours is on a slope. One would think that the water would run down, but noooo, it is a nasty muddy, mucky mess and anything that I put down runs down and compromises the strength of the walls. I'm at my wits end trying to figure something out.

 

[flaflocker]

I've got to try that ... A section of my Chicken House tends to get soupy when we get days of continuous rains & with hurricane season coming up want to get started to alleviate the mess I had last year. Need locate pvc poultry netting or something similar. Thank you for sharing

Instead of poultry netting look for the barrier netting that contractors use around construction sites. It comes in different widths, is durable and can be "tied" together with zip ties. I used it to block access to predators and chickens under a wooden fence that left a 12" gap. Been there 5 years and except for the occasional possum chewing through it is still going strong. (I just patch the holes when needed).

 

[FWC2019]

We had a couple of trees cut down at the back of the farm and had a pile of chippings. They were a mix but mostly cedar I think.

Thanks

 

[chkva]

I just put down builders sand. Our yard has grass, but we have clay so when it gets wet, it gets so muddy. The sand helps a lot but not play sand, definitely get builders sand, it has all different grades of sand and doesn't clump up. My chickens and chicks love it so far. They've been dust bathing and scratching around on it for most of the day. People say it gets dusty, but when it's outside I don't see a problem. I would never use sand inside on a brooder or anything though.

 

[Stephine]

I have tried so many things, but ours is on a slope. One would think that the water would run down, but noooo, it is a nasty muddy, mucky mess and anything that I put down runs down and compromises the strength of the walls. I'm at my wits end trying to figure something out.

Can you possibly cover it? That sounds like the most reliable solution for a slope.