[redspookycooky]

hi i am struggling to keep my chicken run dry, its soaking and full of puddles.i have just put plastic sheeting on the roof and down oneside, but am wondering if chippings/bark or gravel is going to be best to sort the floor out and make it a bit less soggy? cheers

[dizzylizzie]

Welcome to chicken keeping...my run is muddy, my garden is muddy,my paths are muddy, even my kitchen floor is muddy, im just waiting for spring!
On the plus side, the girls dont seem to mind it, what about yours?
We have partially covered the runs with clear coroline, but they spend half the day in the garden , and refuse to go under cover, so i felt it was pintless covering the rest because they dont use the cover they've got now

[wilson5]

Hi

I had the same prob, put down bark chippings the hens stay a lot cleaner if they are in the run all the time it gives them something to scratch about in.

Sally

[redspookycooky]

cheers was starting to worry cos trapsing all the mud into their coop, so inside is permantely mucky, was wondering if all that was causing the lack of egg production   cos they don`tnormally stop layer altogether.

[dizzylizzie]

Alot of people find their eggs productions stop/slow this time of year (me included) its because of reduced daylight hours! Some people have light in the coop to compensate, but it depends upon the age/breed of your girls aswel. Alot of hens are miserable in this weather, you know your girls best, just keep an eye on them!
As regards the bark/woodchipping, i hav that, and that is a muddy mess also

[Sharentin]

I've just put a bale of straw in the run. I left it whole, so part of the fun for them, was spreading it around

[grumpydad]

we have wood chippings from a tree surgeon, they were free, and with a roof over the run, it is not too bad, mainly dry.

i will be putting a windbreak material down the side, to keep the rain and snow from blowing in over the winter

[Sid]

Aswel as bark chippings, I put down some fine builders sand it gets rid of puddles and any odour.

[karlooben]

wood bark from a tree surgeon is the best thing to use  it will soak up all water an also give the girls  something to srcatch around in , it also helps to keep the smell down  .

sharentin a word if warning with using straw if you  cant keep t dry it will smell like pure rotting hell within a short space of time i know as i tried it the clothes i wore to remove it from the run got thrown away after 2 washes they still smelt .

[sallylouise]

I have bark down and they also have a big bale of straw in there which they scratch on and pull apart, mine doesn't smell  but I have to keep turning it over (then it smells) otherwise it becomes a huge heap, i have noticed as well you have to keep adding to the bark as it decomposes very quickly think I have added new bark 3 times this year
 

[wilson5]

My garden is like a pond, my light sussex girls are a nice brown colour which is also the colour of my kitchen floor(the dogs come out to see to the chooks then run right through the house). 
One of my dogs opens the door to go out so friday when   I went to work and my teenage son was at home he came downstairs to the whole house full of chicken poo  ???and Hilda sat in the conservetory with the dogs!!!!! Think she  is a bit sick of the mud
The mop is never put away at the moment
Roll on spring
But the plus side is after having my hens since July thinking I would never get an eqq we had our first on Saturday last week and one every day since so someone must be happy Sally

[coco]

I have the same problem in the chicken run, the girls don't seem to mind and free range round the garden all afternoon which gives them a break from the mud.

The actual run though is very muddy and getting a bit smelly, I've plenty of wood shavings ... is it worth chucking some that down to try and soak some of the mud and smell up?

Whats everyone else using?

xxx

[usefulgas]

cheap cat litter

 from german supermarket chain, aldi or lidal,
 pop it in the puddles, goes very firm ,cement like , my cats are confused now why are the girls getting same as us, my girls,3......are penned off from 26week old cats , however as 10 week old kitties, they thought hens would be fun to play with,I put a stop to that with water spray telling off!, so yeah try using cat litter from some of the cheaper stores.........

[viettaclark]

We found the only bit of garden that wasn't under water for the covered run and breathed a sigh of relief.
Came down this morning and it's at least an inch deep inside and girls are paddling about! Luckily coop is up high. Most of the garden is at least 3" deep due to the defunct soak-away and this torrential rain.
Does anyone make chicken wellies? (There's a thought.....)

[Jeanette]

I use bark and my hubby bought a tarpulin from a large store beginning with B and ending with a Q. Because it has ties on it we have put it on for the winter and will take it off next year. It is so long it covers the one side of the run so it stands as a wind brake as well.       
  So far it works great