What do you use for your walkways? (it's a soggy mess over here!)

[IsayOsiyo2U]

Ditto. I hope there are some good ideas come through here. We are up to our ankles in poop soup.

Same here. So much rain this spring. But even worse is at work. Like 10Xs worse.
I work at a horse barn. We have to clean stalls then push/drag carts full of crap out back and then dump them.
Once or twice a week we use a tractor with a bucket to shove it all into a huge pile.
With the constant growing and shrinking pile and tractor work the whole area is a constant flat dirt area. It doesn't drain for sh!t except one area that becomes like a creek flowing across just to pool up in another area.
It's been a mess forever and this year even worse. Our issue is not only our pathway to the pile but that we're trying to drag heavy carts along too. Cutting ruts, getting stuck, etc.
We've tried different things but all were short lived until months ago we had a pile of junk mulch brought in. It has worked great and yes the one spot sometimes washes out a bit but we throw a little more mulch there when needed and so far once we threw a little more over it all but that's because it's not a very deep layer to began with.
World of difference and so much so I've done mulch at home in my couple worse places.
View attachment 4144988

@The Moonshiner Our red clay dirt is a nightmare! Doesn't absorb water at all! And we have so many vines and roots, that digging is the worst! We were thinking about mulch in between our coops because at the very least it might help condition our soil. Thank you for some inspiration!

Ha! I got a vehicle thoroughly stuck in that slimy stuff. I actually slid off the road like there was ice on it instead of mud. I hope there are some answers to this problem. I always thought you could make the stuff into bricks if you had a kiln.

 

[IsayOsiyo2U]

Same here. So much rain this spring. But even worse is at work. Like 10Xs worse.
I work at a horse barn. We have to clean stalls then push/drag carts full of crap out back and then dump them.
Once or twice a week we use a tractor with a bucket to shove it all into a huge pile.
With the constant growing and shrinking pile and tractor work the whole area is a constant flat dirt area. It doesn't drain for sh!t except one area that becomes like a creek flowing across just to pool up in another area.
It's been a mess forever and this year even worse. Our issue is not only our pathway to the pile but that we're trying to drag heavy carts along too. Cutting ruts, getting stuck, etc.
We've tried different things but all were short lived until months ago we had a pile of junk mulch brought in. It has worked great and yes the one spot sometimes washes out a bit but we throw a little more mulch there when needed and so far once we threw a little more over it all but that's because it's not a very deep layer to began with.
World of difference and so much so I've done mulch at home in my couple worse places.
View attachment 4144988

Could you use the mulch that comes from a local tree trimmer company?

 

[The Moonshiner]

Could you use the mulch that comes from a local tree trimmer company?

That's exactly what we used at work and what I used at home.
I'm thinking about using mulch in some of my pens but will probably go with store bought for that cause the other has some jaggedy pieces that I don't want stabbing chicken's feet.

 

[IsayOsiyo2U]

That's exactly what we used at work and what I used at home.
I'm thinking about using mulch in some of my pens but will probably go with store bought for that cause the other has some jaggedy pieces that I don't want stabbing chicken's feet.

Foot stabbers… good to know. Thank you!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Foot stabbers… good to know. Thank you!

Jagged pieces aren't really an issue. The only birds I have that get bumblefoot are the heavier ones that have harder landings off the roost, none of the lighter birds have issue with the same bedding/litter.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

For all you enduring a soggy spring-early summer, my sympathies, and I offer you a musical commentary by Canada’s country roots band Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans:

I don’t have anywhere near the drainage issues that y’all are having, but I do swear by coarse hardwood mulch, with help from bark nuggets and pine straw (dead pine needles.) Regular wheat straw is terrible for getting soggy and then stinky/moldy. (For the same reasons, it’s great for composting.)