The run is a muddy mess. What to put down other than sand?

[carladababe]

I used up all my left over hay that was still dry and not moldy. I'll start buying straw now and using it in the run after a good rain. I like the sand, when I get new bags of it the girls go nuts. They look like they're having a day at the beach. I do clean out the hay/straw when it starts to look wet.

 

[Bizzybirdy]

When it rains hard and the run is muddy I just open a bale of straw and toss it around. It makes it safer for me to walk on too...can't say how many times I have fallen in the slippery mud before I did that.

Hay rots and gets to smelling bad but straw stays good and the fuzzy butts love scratching around in and pecking for the bits of wheat.

 

[ll]

pine needles / pine straw
pine cones
fallen bamboo leaves
soft evergreen branches
fresh dirt
ag. lime
diat. earth

build up areas that they can get up on:
a cinder block / cement block
bricks / pavers
a tree stump
a smooth flat boulder

good luck

 

[NonnasBabies]

I use hay!! I will be trying pine needles soon. Just need to take the time to go rake some up!!

 

[autumnprairie]

I also use straw, but it only lasts about a week here. I need to add more already, but I live in the Mississippi river flood plain the Arkansas side where all the flooding was back in May of this year.
I too need to build up my pens but not exactly sure the best way to go about it

 

[gale65]

OMG. I wasn't out there but dh said when he opened up the pop door today, the chickens came racing out as usual but when they saw that hay, they all stopped short, running into each other.

Then the first couple tiptoed over the hay and the rest flew over it, squawking loudly.

They eventually did go check it out but I wish I had a camera out there now.

 

[Tracydr]

Wood stove pellets work great in a pinch.

 

[gingernutranger]

Something we use for horses is hogfuel. You can usually find it anywhere searching on the web. It's a little finer than woodchips and eliminates mud problems in our paddocks. If you decide to look into it, remember not to use cedar because it is toxic.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
Leaves in the run in the winter is the ticket.

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Hay gets moldy so they say. I use a bale of straw, it's seems to be drier and they love to scratch for scratch in it. In the spring it's "processed" for the garden. You can just add another bale when things get broken down to much. And you can add a "sand box" for dusting.

I wish us all dry runs,

Rancher

That doesn't sound right does it. Oh well.