Suggestions for a VERY muddy run?

[SmiYa0126]

Nothing worse than a nasty, muddy run. As someone from Kentucky I can attest to the fact that KY clay is nasty stuff. Mixing in some chicken manure makes for a horrible mess! I got tired of dealing with the mess and put a roof over all my runs. Although a little rain blows in occasionally they are much, much better.

Same, we have a roof, I also use wood chips as bedding in the run.

 

[stacysfunnyfarm]

I live in Northern Maine and have been away on vacation for 9 days, when I left the ground was frozen solid, but spring appears to have sprung while I was gone, resulting in my run being EXTREMELY muddy. The thaw has also thawed the feces, and now it's a mucky mess! Any suggestions on what I can put down to prevent my 6 hens from walking through the mix of mud and poo and becoming sick?

P.S. Their run is 5'x15'.

I live in Seattle where mud is a way of life. The best solution here is wood chips. Find a local arborist and have them dump a load of chips in your driveway- they usually have to pay to dump so they are usually happy to get rid of them. Wood chips take a very long time to break down and the rain just goes right through so there are no puddles. The hens love to dig around in them so don’t be afraid to put down a couple inches. They also work on muddy paths and areas where you want to discourage weeds.

 

[3KillerBs]

if the surrounding area puddling up is enough to make the run itself muddy.

If the area collects standing water because the drainage is poor then no bedding of any kind will ever prevent mud.

Fixing the drainage can be difficult, laborious, and/or expensive, but if the coop and run are in a low spot where puddles collect then there's no other option.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I use wood small chips. Composts well, too

 

[Silexian]

As others have suggested, I like using mulch/chips. Over straw, shavings or sand. They keep the chickens up, out of the mud and muck. When they get too dirty. They can be removed and composted. A lot of places have yard waste recycling centers or street departments. Where you can still get it at no cost. Other than using your own containers and loading it yourself. Saving you from having to take a whole truck load. Or it can be purchased in bags at just about any hardware store or outdoor center.

 

[Mrs Fryzzle]

I'm honestly considering switching from deep litter method to this in our coop area for the ducks. It is so messy and maybe more of a pain in the gizzard than it is worth.

....pain in the gizzard..... you got that right!!

 

[LizzzyJo]

I live in a drained swamp (Great Black Swamp). The only thing that worked was to raise the ground in the run. We worked for over a year a bit at a time that every time we planted a tree we took the top sod and placed it into the run to grow. Eventually the run was raised 5 inches and it stays nice and dry now.

It’s a long term and long process solution that was applied along with all of the others mentioned, but it is truly flawless.

Best of luck!

 

[Starfall Pastures]

We have alot of pine trees so we collect the fallen needles in a cart and dump them into the run. The hens love to dig for bugs in the piles, and they spread it around for us.

 

[Colberon]

I would get pine shavings ! Now I live in northeast Georgia so we don’t deal with your exact problem, but we have had very rough storms/ tornado weather mixed with Georgia red clay. The pine chips/shavings have helped us a lot!

We temporarily solved the problem with pine shavings and pelletized bedding, going to add more this weekend with all the snow melt recently.

 

[Ponypoor]

I live in Northern Maine and have been away on vacation for 9 days, when I left the ground was frozen solid, but spring appears to have sprung while I was gone, resulting in my run being EXTREMELY muddy. The thaw has also thawed the feces, and now it's a mucky mess! Any suggestions on what I can put down to prevent my 6 hens from walking through the mix of mud and poo and becoming sick?

P.S. Their run is 5'x15'.

5x15 is a small area that would be easily covered. Use 8' 2x6 spaced every 2', cross these with purlins every 2', then you can cover it with some PVC sheeting or even greenhouse panels. This way you would have a nice overhang on either side to help drain water away.

Also I would excavate down to the native soil and place about 6" to 8" of 3/4" washed crusher-run (gravel - use the washed stuff that doesn't have very small gravel which turns to mud) in there, you can still top that with your wood chips. The key is to keep it draining and dry.

I know all about mud, the horses here turn everything to mud in the Spring, I always said I prefer snow to mud- snow you can plow and move around. Mud is just a waiting game for warm dry winds to dry it all up! Good luck and let us know how you made out