What can I do to make my run and coop less muddy?!?!

[Smartie_Pants]

I have both chickens and ducks, but decided to post this here because I'm sure its something duck owners deal with more often than chicken owners. Here is a pic of my setup:

As you can see, there is grass everywhere, except them pen! Every time it rains the dirt turns into mud and you sink up past your ankles! In the summer, little tufts try to grow but don't turn into much. What can I do?

 

[Chef]

I just put sand im my coops for this exact reason. Seems to be working well. You need to make the ground higher in your coop so it doesnt puddle. Just my 2 cents.

Chef

 

[Opa]

Sand is the best bet. Get coarse sand not fine. Cheaper and works better

 

[Smartie_Pants]

I totally forgot the pic! You can see it now.

So about the sand, how deep would you need to make that? And how do you clean the poop out? And they won't eat it? When it rains doesn't it get wet and messy?

 

[Opa]

I've got the sand in my run about 4 inches deep. Once a week or so I use a spring rank to remove the droppings then a bow rake to level it. They will scratch through it for the smallest pebbles for grit. They usually scratch out a dust bowl that I place a 1/2 cup of DE in. Occasionally I add more sand. The deeper the sand becomes the drier the run will stay. Mine has elevated above the surrounding area and rarely is it wet.

 

[colby318]

We put playground sand in our run. It's a little larger than yours and we used 400#s. This is gross but I read from a site that hens will eat poop to recover phosphorus used in shells. I know rabbits redigest their poo, too.

 

[Mahonri]

It's a good thing that my run drys out quickly... the hens spent most of the day in the coop yesterday because it was so wet in the run.

 

[jacyjones]

I agree with the posts here. I put sand down after advice from BYC and it is really good. We have a lot of rain here in the UK and it copes brilliantly.

 

[Wildsky]

Sand is good, I saw somewhere someone had dug a trench and put in bigger size rocks and then sand ontop - worked to "funnel" the water away.

 

[Bossroo]

Your bigest problem is LOCATION LOCATION AND LOCATION ! Puting down sand in your current location will not solve wet, muddy pens.Your pens are located where all of the water drains down hill from the hillside above the pens. First find a new dry location for the pens. Dig down at least six inches ( more is better),use this oportunity to put down wire to prevent predators, rats, mice, from digging in, put down 3-4 inches of pea gravel , then 2-3 inches of coarse sand over that, then 1-2 inches of soil.. Move your pens there.