# Outside run is a mucky soppy mess. Tips?



## freedomfrom4

Our outside chicken run has turned to dirt and now with all the rain mud. Not just a little muddy, no real mud and poo mix. Very deep mud. What shouuld we do to fix this? I thought about cleaning with shovels then placing skids in the area then covering with lanoluim that I have no use for, but I thought the slick lanolium was bad for them. So what else can I do? It is bad. We used to let ours free range until some wierd people started showing up asking about them. Now they have to be penned. Blah. The poor chickens don't even want on the floor. They are perched looking at the floor. Poor old girls. So some advise on how to make our chicken coop a pleasent healthy environment for our chickens would be great.


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## Jay27

We rototill from time to time. Seems that after they walk around pooing for a while the coop doesn't want to drain when it rains. 

Now that you have a sloppy mess, there isn't much you can do. Getting in there with the tiller could make a bigger muddier mess. I'd shovel out anything that is extra sloppy and silty and then rototill when it dries out a bit. 

Our run is deep sand which seems to work well for the birds. It drains well and they like dust bathing in it.


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## praieri winds

like the idea you have but yes the slick floor might cause feet and leg problems you could cover it with some shavings that would be easy to clean out and could be put in the compost pile worms love it and chickens love worms


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## Cyngbaeld

Lots an lots of wood chips would work. Later in the year you can see about building up the ground so it drains, but right now you need to absorb some of the water and give them a cleaner area to walk in.


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## mayfair

Gravel works if the drainage isn't too bad. But don't put gravel down now- it will just sink in. You need to add gravel as deep as the mud gets. For example, 2" of mud, add 2" of gravel. If you add wood chips now, scrape them before you add gravel.


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## fishhead

If you put down a layer of thick sawdust that will help for now. Then you can compost it when the rains stop.

Long term you'll need sand or gravel and maybe some added drainage.


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## GrannyCarol

Can you build them a chicken tractor and take them out to graze during the day? At least a chicken tractor can be moved every few days to fresh ground.


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## laughaha

I'd use hay, LOTS AND LOTS of hay. Your girls will be able to walk on it and not sink down or get muddy. It will add lots of carbon to your nitrogen/poo andd this will compost REALLY fast and build up your soil level (if you leave it in there and don't garden). The girls will have lots of enrichment scratching through it and eating all the bugs and weed seeds. If you do garden, this then makes a great mulch after being in the chicken pen for a couple of weeks. Rinse and repeat all gardening season long, I do with great results.


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## Bearfootfarm

Anything organic will just add to the problems
I'd build it up with sand and make sure the water can drain away


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## Sanza

Throw down some leaves if you have any. Even clean out the coop and spread that manure all over the mud. That will work to build up the ground level in a hurry.


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## laughaha

Bearfootfarm said:


> Anything organic will just add to the problems
> I'd build it up with sand and make sure the water can drain away


I respectfully disagree- I've been doing a deep hay bedding in my chicken pen for the last two years. I started because they ate all the grass and at least 5 springs run off our "hill" and we had a horrible mess and birds who didn't want to come out of the coop. I put around 30 bales of hay (fluffed out) in their pen and just add to it when needed and take out when I need mulch for my gardens. Both me and my chooks love it. It is basically using the entire chicken pen as a composter. I also toss in all compostables (even the ones they won't eat like onions, etc and leaves and grass clippings. Tossing corn all over the pen (just a couple handfuls) every day keeps the hens really digging and fluffing up the hay. 

If we were talking about cows whose weight would just push all the hay way down into the mud then I would agree with you, but chickens are light enough that they don't do that. 

Adding sand is a great idea. I did this too- about 4- 50lb bags. I mainly did it in one area for a dustbathing site.

Oh and I also toss in the small rocks that I find when digging gardens, etc.


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## lauriej57

We have clay ground here. We always have problems with muck when it rains. We have a stand of pines behind our house. Last fall I raked up pine needles, laid them in the run, and it helped, at least temporarily. I also raked leaves and put them in there. And chickens are light, so they don't weight it down. 

A month or so ago, when we had a lot of rain, I laid down straw, and it has worked really well. It stayed on top of the mud for a long time.


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## ||Downhome||

I second the hay! works great for me. 

though you still need drainage. the hay or sawdust/wood chips get them out of the mud and muck but only if its draining. 

find your lowest spot that hopefull slopes, if not you will need to determine where you will need to trench too to keep it draining. check out french drains. I had to do that with my dog run.


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## green5acres

laughaha said:


> I respectfully disagree- I've been doing a deep hay bedding in my chicken pen for the last two years. I started because they ate all the grass and at least 5 springs run off our "hill" and we had a horrible mess and birds who didn't want to come out of the coop. I put around 30 bales of hay (fluffed out) in their pen and just add to it when needed and take out when I need mulch for my gardens. Both me and my chooks love it. It is basically using the entire chicken pen as a composter. I also toss in all compostables (even the ones they won't eat like onions, etc and leaves and grass clippings. Tossing corn all over the pen (just a couple handfuls) every day keeps the hens really digging and fluffing up the hay.
> 
> If we were talking about cows whose weight would just push all the hay way down into the mud then I would agree with you, but chickens are light enough that they don't do that.
> 
> Adding sand is a great idea. I did this too- about 4- 50lb bags. I mainly did it in one area for a dustbathing site.
> 
> Oh and I also toss in the small rocks that I find when digging gardens, etc.








I also use hay and recycle into the garden for mulching It works for me
I also use hay in the coop, and recycle into the garden, works great for me!


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## gone-a-milkin

I agree with the hay (or straw) idea. However, if you dont have it, you can just put down some boards for them to walk on. Make them a little catwalk, (bird walk?) so they can get down and move around some.

I have a big flat rock at the lowest point in my coop, in front of the waterer. My hens can fly from the roost over to it, if nothing else. I also put some 2x6's in there, when it rains absurd amounts. Cinderblocks, rocks, bricks and boards all will work.

The birds get really good at staying on the path. Then when it dries out some, I flip the boards over and the girls go crazy for the bugs hiding underneath.

Here's hoping that it dries out for them soon!


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## BamaNana

I too use hay. Works very well at sucking up excess moisture. Make sure to spread it out REAL thick. When it rains again, add more hay. I tried straw, but it doesn't remove the moisture very well at all.


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## Sanza

Rain?! What's it like to have too much rain? Our area has been suffering from drought for years. We just had some blustery weather with a light drizzle, while 100 miles away in any direction they were having highway closures because of the snow and ice and drifts....


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## Navotifarm

In my area we usuually have a very wet spring, so I save bags of dry leaves to spread in my chicken/guinea and duck/goose pens. Sometimes I add saw dust, hay or straw, bagels from a dumpster and various fruit and veg scraps (except potato peels). This keeps the droppings from draining out all over the adjacent ground as well as makes a great place for the birds. And keeps ME from sinking into stinky slop! Harvey Ussery calls this the "deep bedding method." His chckens appear to scratch and dig much more than mine do so they benefit from worms and grubs. As the weather dries, I take out barrows full of partially composted, rich material for my garden -- there's a period when it's soft and easy to fork out, before summer sets in and bakes it hard. 
This works well with the chickens, but the ducks and geese tromp everything down with their big rubbery feet. Flies come swarming in and soon there are nasty nests of squirmy maggots. That's the time to let the chickens into the duck pen!


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## gold'nchocolate

I use hay on top of the mud. I find it works great to help keep their feet dry and the eggs from getting muddy. They love to scratch around in it.


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## Randy Rooster

I would check with local farmers for free spoled and old hay and use that - done it before.


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## HillsideWayCSA

I don't have a problem with the chicken yard but for places that get trampled and muddy in other parts of the farm I use straw. It's cheap and absorbent. It breaks down pretty quick so just add it as needed. 

I solved the problem with muddy chicken yards by having a stationary hen house with a yard that can be rotated around it so as one spot gets worn down I can move the chicken yard and reseed the worn out spot with foodstuff. It's not exactly a chicken tractor but works in the same way.


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## OJ Rallye

Don't use the linoleum! Our Muscovies have a camping trailer for house. It has linoleum and it can be vary slippery.
I'd use barley straw if you can get it cheap or free.


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## freedomfrom4

I have some hay that got wet that I was going to compost. I think I will make walking paths and put the hat down in the holes.


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