Wet - Stinky run - need help!

[blueskylen]

Just processed our broilers who were using half of our run - the other half is used by our 11 eggers.
We have had a especially rainy spring, and their run is a mucky, wet, stinky mess! I have scraped off all of the wet straw bedding and poo down to the packed dirt, now my question is what kind of bedding would be best to sort of prevent this kind of slop ? I have humped the dirt up in the middle of the run, which is about 6 feet wide, hoping that it will drain off on the sides. I really don't like the straw, as it just doesnt seem to dry out well.
What do you suggest??

 

[MissPrissy]

I would sprinkle lime then till it under. After a good rain your ground will be refreshed and ready for more chickens. Compost all the muck you raked off. In a few months time it will be awesome to add into garden soil!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

You might want to skip the bedding and try sand. It drains well and you can rake it, too. We put sand in the part of our run that is covered and has no grass. It's worked really well.

Plus, what MissPrissy said.

 

[GallowayFarms]

I wish I knew where you live. It would help me in suggesting stuff to you.

First you need to till it and break up the packed down dirt. With the soil packed down it won't drain. It will continue to hold water. Lime is a good product to mix in with the soil. Ask for lime that is safe to use around animals when you buy it. Wear a dust mask when you spread it. Also mixing some play sand in with the dirt will help it drain too.

You can get a product called stone dust. It is made of limestone that is crushed. It looks like kitty litter but it is stone. People use it under pavers to make driveways and such.

The best part about using this is that it drains well, and being lime stone it natural keeps some of the smell down. The chickens will scratch in it and till the poo into the ground on their own most of the time. Plus when they need grit they will just pick up some of the stone dust.

Yes stone dust is not really dust, but that is what they call it.

If you want a soft bedding to go on the stone dust. I would pick something like pine straw. It doesn't pack down. It is light and easy to handle and clean up. And most of the time it breaks up in the run and turns into dirt.

 

[blueskylen]

thanks for the suggestions,
we do live close to a stone quarry, and I will ask about the crushed limestone - they probably carry it along with sand, will till up the hard dirt and get the stone and mix it with the sand on top. We are also going to put french type drains along the 1 ft edges that aren't covered by the tarps with drain pipes and gravel - Chickens sure are a lot of worry and work!!

 

[GallowayFarms]

They are animals, unless you lock them up without and food or water they know how to survive most anything.

Some people raise chickens with the mindset that if everything isn't perfect they will die.

Have fun with them. And don't worry. Anything that involves mother nature is sure to not make you rich. I know I grow trees for a living. Nothing like a late frost to kill about $40,000 dollars worth of plants.

Good Luck and have fun.

Nick

 

[blueskylen]

i guess that reading all of the "emergency -help" posts makes a person extra worried about everything.
I know that up until I was 6 or 7 yrs old we had chickens on the farm, and I know that no special treatment was given them, they ran around free-no special feed-housing was what every building they ran under - nesting was in the calf pens and not very sanitary - and we had no problems as I recall. We had to butcher them because of my parents dairy business and possible TB issues. I would love to just free range them, but our dog has his own ideas about how they would taste.