i would treat it like you would if you had smelly compost. so add some brown material such as straw or shavings or that kind of stuff. chickens love kicking around some straw. once it dries out it will be better. i am a big fan of de. yeah some will say there is respiratory issues but its never been a issue for me or my girls. honestly feather dander can be just as dangerous as a respiratory issue in my experience with birds. you can get it at ifa. look for permaguard or however you spell it. i found it by the canning stuff by the bulk food grade grains and such. you can also add wood ash if you have it. but yeah i would add straw to the run and till the soil up a bit. it adds air, drys it out and the straw helps it not smell.The rain today was crazy! But I must say i do.love it. So I'm finding that my run is getting.smelly with all this rain. That DE will it help with this? Also whats the down sides to it and where can I get it? IFA?
So, I successfully placed my newest babies under my good broody. She handled it well, made some cute little clicks when took the McDonalds cup off her head. She is a fierce momma, drew blood the last time I placed chicks with her. So one day while gathering extra eggs she stole out from under her I grabbed a cup and stuck it over her head prepared to fight with her to keep it on. Much to my surprise she didn't protest the cup. I moved her gathered the extras and put her vack without a hitch. it was a great discovery. But I digress. I was initally planning on putting them under the 1st time broody but was too worried she wouldnt really know what to do with them so I took the (possibly already damaged, due tomorrow) eggs that the pro was sitting on and oh so carefully sit them under the newbie mom. Hopefully both broodies will be contented this way.