Very muddy ground

[mrsmackyd]

Hi there,any suggestions as to what I can do to limit the wet mudbog our girls are in? I'm in the UK and we have a lot of rain.Is there anything I can put over it?
Thanks.

 

[tracecom]

Hi there,any suggestions as to what I can do to limit the wet mudbog our girls are in? I'm in the UK and we have a lot of rain.Is there anything I can put over it?
Thanks.

I have about 6" of coarse mulch over the dirt in the run. The mulch drains well and keeps the chickens off the dirt, as well as giving them something to scratch through.

Or, perhaps you meant a roof over the run; that would be good, too.

 

[TalkALittle]

What is your current coop setup like? A good description or picture would help. Roofing the run will help keep it substantially drier. If you're experiencing blown in rain, putting up plastic sheeting on the sides of the run will help with that.

Last summerI put about 4-5 inches of sand in my covered run that is now wrapped in plastic for the New England winter and it is still dry. I just rake and sift out the poop. We'll see how well it works during the wet and rainy spring.

Every autumn I run the riding lawn mower over the leaves (I'm too lazy to rake) and then spread the shredded collection in one area of my property. The birds scratch through them and fluff them up so they don't ever form a wet mat. The ground can get pretty wet underneath them, but they create a nice dry layer on top. I would think that a mixture of leaves and/or mulch would work.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Pat’s Big Ol' Mud Page (fixing muddy runs):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run

You might try reading this article. It has several good ideas on how to treat a muddy run. With your unique situation it’s hard to say which ideas might be right for you.

 

[redmug]

I've had similar problems since winter hit. The weather is never good enough to get it to dry out.

My response has been two fold:

I) I've put weed suppressant fabric down and then covered with a good layer of hardwood chips (don't use bark mulch or similar). I found a local supplier for the ones from bark-uk. The chickens tend to spread it around and pile it up, but its easy to rake back flat again.

ii) I've put a roof on the run that Ill remove in spring/summer. I just used pvcu corrugated sheets from Wickes.

Between the two, it is far far better than it was. Before, it was a bit like Glastonbury, but now the mud is solid and the eggs cleaner. There is also a very dry area which serves as a great dustbath.

 

[tracecom]

...(don't use bark mulch or similar).

Why?