[Diane C]

I have recently embarked  on owning 3 chooks......something I have toyed with on and off for years.   My OH got me a small coop and run for the lovely ladies to live in. We have cordened off a small part of the garden for them to wander and forage in....Aaah lovely I thought, free ranging is best for them.......couldn't believe how quickly they demolished the grass... I'm not completely green as I did expect them to demolish it but was surprised how quickly it went...Living in the north of england the rain has been plentiful this week and we have now got a lovely patch of muddy mess!! not very pretty to lok at....

I know folks have probably asked this question umpteen times but what would be best to cover up this muddy patch??? in the run we have put small stones topped with sharps sand.  Is it best to dig up the muddy patch and do something similar or would paving flags be the most sensible option and just let the chooks have access to the earth in the borders???

Help....this dilemma is taking over my life at the moment, I am trawling through forum pages and getting bogged down with looking through hundreds of posts and topics trying to find a solution......Thanks x

[nerdle]

Welcome to chicaholics anonymous.

People say woodchip does the job.  Those better qualified will respond too I hope.

[Diane C]

Hi.... and thanks. I have thought about wood chips, my daughter has just chopped down most of the trees in her garden and hired a wood chipper so has a pile of them... I wondered how dry they would stay....and for how long....

Seriously, I understand the 'chicaholics' comment....boy that's all I seem to think about at the moment.. I just want to get it right and don't want to make life any harder by doing things the wrong way!!!!

 

[Tony H]

Hi and welcome, yes wood chip is fine for the open air runs, have you thought about roofing the aria ?, I personaly dont because the chucks get all my garden to destroy so wouldnt be practicle  in the summer you will have the same but it will be a dust bath instead, if you are going to use wood chip dig over the soil first to stop it from holding the water on the surface 

[hen-night]

Hi and welcome..Totally agree, wood chip..... pity you dont live near me, got tons of the stuff.Eletric co. done some clearing in a copse to the rear of our house. Freemans goody..goody...Aden

[Diane C]

Tony H - the run has a corrugated plastic cover over the top.  The other is an area we have fenced off to let them out and roam in.  I knew they would demolish the grass so didn't want the chooks to have a go at all our lawn!

I shall give the wood chips a go, I suppose it is all trial and error.  I am just waiting for them all to start laying - we have had 5 eggs over the 5 weeks since we got them, only one at a time so don't know who is responsible!

Thanks for input

Hen-night - thanks too, I'll have a search in my area for tree surgeons etc if it's successfull enough!

[ANHBUC]

You could put some guttering to catch the rain water off the roof and either collect it in a container or divert it to a dryer part of your garden.

Welcome to the site.   

[themagicaltoad1]

I'm always on the lookout for woodchip when the council have tidied up an area. The chooks love scratching around in it, and if you scrape it out and renew it now and then it doesn't get too scummy or smelly. Welcome to the mad world of chicken keeping.

[Diane C]

Thanks for replies - woodchips collected and now in place and chooks loving thrashing around and sending them everywhere...      Now I shall try and source plenty cheaply!!!