What can I use for yard cover?

[cmsagirl]

My friend and I built/finished a coop for our 6 chickens, it was our first home-made coop and we're newbies to having chickens that aren't free range. It turned out really well but there has come a slight problem. the whole thing is stationary. the 'yard' was just grass, well as chickens do the grass got pretty flattened down and some dirt patches began to show, which the chickens loved for dust baths. we recently got a lot of rain where i live and now the whole coop yard is nothing but a big mud hole. Fall is here for us so the grass has really stopped growing. even if the sun dries it all back out (which im not sure will happen soon) it will still be well, dirt. what can I put down over the mud/dirt that will be healthy for the chickens and help with easy clean up? I have seen a couple of coops that had this gravel type stuff down in the yard, the granules were thicker than sand, but nowhere near as big as driveway gravel. The yard has an 'open roof' (by that I mean it's fenced over the roof just not covered so rain and sun get through but no predators) so rain will get in while they are inside the coop building, so I need something that will drain and not mush/mat up. Hope that all makes sense. Any suggestions?

 

[onesweetfarm]

Hello, I just recently put down some large particle sand in the chicken yards. It seems to be holding up well even in all of this rain that we have had. It isn't beach sand or playground sand it is the sand put down on the roads in the winter. Very coarse in texture. This is the first time using it but so far I am happy with the results.

 

[cmsagirl]

That sounds perfect! Did you buy it online or at a nearby store? I'm thinking maybe lowes would have it