Show me your solutions for a muddy mucky chicken yard!

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

What a wonderful activity, and a fantastic haul of stuff for the chickens! I love it.

Yeah, it was great to get the kids out there giving back to the community, and the "before" and "after" in only 90 minutes was really amazing.

Also, just got a text from the OTHER person who left with a truck-full of leaves asking if they wanted me to drop them off. Score!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

This wet weather! In the highest traffic part of my run, all the leaves we got from the pre-Memorial Day cleanup have turned to mush.

I put four bales of straw in today to help soak up the muck and hopefully help the smell a bit.

 

[blackdog043]

This wet weather! In the highest traffic part of my run, all the leaves we got from the pre-Memorial Day cleanup have turned to mush.

I put four bales of straw in today to help soak up the muck and hopefully help the smell a bit.

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

Wood chips or undyed mulch will get you going in the right direction(deep litter), even in an uncovered run. Break up tree branches of different thicknesses and add those also. You can add some leaves to this and it will be fine, just don't add a lot at one time. Add yard and garden waste as you get it. You will end up with a nice chicken run, to keep the chickens busy, not many flies and it shouldn't stink. If it starts to stink, it's usually time to add more wood chips and stuff, because whats in there is breaking down. Think of it as a nice mulched flower bed, with extra stuff in it.

 

[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.

 

[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...

 

[WhoDatChick]

Zoom in on the pics and see the materials... it’s also great for dust bathing!

 

[Chickengene]

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... View attachment 1822224View attachment 1822226View attachment 1822228View attachment 1822229View attachment 1822230View attachment 1822233

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...
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.

 

[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?

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Yes, I think I do need some slower rotting material in there. I have a couple of stumps that are getting ground this week, and I told the guys to leave the chips. I'll pick them up and put them in the muddiest part of the run. Hopefully that helps a bit.

Also think I'll start adding some coffee grinds to the mix. May even stop by the local dunkin donuts and see if they can save me some for a few days.

 

[aart]

Yes, I think I do need some slower rotting material in there. I have a couple of stumps that are getting ground this week, and I told the guys to leave the chips. I'll pick them up and put them in the muddiest part of the run. Hopefully that helps a bit.

Also think I'll start adding some coffee grinds to the mix. May even stop by the local dunkin donuts and see if they can save me some for a few days.

You ought to ask them to dump their chipper truck....would be better than stump grindings..bigger chips and less dirt.

Not sure why you'd want to add coffee grounds...theres already plenty of nitrogen out there.