Wet Run need help

[jray]

My 10' x 20' run is staying really muddy these days (and also stinky), any advice on what I can put in there to help absorb some of the moisture. Would sand be ok? I've put wheat straw in there before, but it doesn't last very long. Unfortunately, i don't have very good drainage where the run is located.

 

[davidb]

sand works best

 

[PortageGirl]

yuh... sand works well, but it gets worked in really fast too.... my back testifies to that. It's been a while, but I think what worked best was a big mixture of sand and leaves. it's sort of happened by accident but it worked really well (I think I was really desperate) oh, and I put stepping stones for my own use, and one time after stepping across them carefully, I turned and saw 2 hens hopping from stone to stone following me, it was really quite funny.

 

[jray]

Stepping stones would be a help in there. I've got plenty of leaves, just need the sand.

 

[patandchickens]

Sand cures a wet run pretty well, provided you put down ENOUGH (typically 4-6+ inches) and put it on BONE DRY GROUND. If you dump sand onto wet ground, it will disappear into the mud within weeks or months and you will be back at square one with nothing to show for it.

Since your run is wet now, I wouldn't put snad in unless you can get it free and need the exercise. Best bet would be coarse organic matter like coarse bark shreds or coarse wood chippings, or pinestraw if you are not concerned about its pointiness. Put in a THICK layer. Basically you are mostly trying to raise the chickens up above the wet. Next spring you will need to rake out all the organic stuff, before it starts to decompose and make the mud worse!, and let the ground dry out real well before adding a good layer of sand and/or gravel.

Also, do what you can to limit water input. Gutters on the coop or other adjacent buildings, with downspouts directed well away (downhill) from the run, and a trench dug around the outside of the coop and run to collect water and divert it downhill, will often go a long way towards helping.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[jray]

as i am in the grading business, I've done about everything possible to direct watre away from the run. I may have to lock the hens in the coop fr a couple of days after this next rain. We're supposed to get another inch of rain tomorrow.

 

[muddler6]

I can't remember if this was a post I saw on here or an article I read somewhere, but I have heard of people tossing in old corn stalks and weeds with similar stalks and then a little straw on top of that, they will eventually pick/stomp/pull/etc. and break it down, but that may help until you can load it up with sand or get some kind of drainage around it. Of course this time of year it may be a little tough to get corn stalk unless there happens to be a friendly farmer near by that hasn't cut his corn yet, or some old thanksgiving decorations laying around. Muddy chickens leave muddy eggs, so I hope you come up with a way to fix it.