[chick with chicks]

 :blink:
I can't look out my window anymore, the whole place looks dreadful. I know it's winter but god love us I can't go on.
We are in the country and have just under .5 of an acre fenced off for the flock.
When we started we were only going to have a few feathered friends but what was meant to be around ten became 40+ ducks and hens, we had the room and said why not?
We totally forgot about fencing off half and leaving them in half and swopping around. As a result the whole place is a kip  :blink:
So this week we rehomed most of them and have 6 hens, 6 ducks, a rooster and an aylesbury duck left.
But with spring coming we need a plan for recovery, as the WHOLE place is MUD. We are in Co. Kerry where the temperature is mild but the rains are pretty bad at this time of the year. We don't know where to start.
Has anyone any advice or opinions?

Thank you!
Carrie

[poppies]

Hi we are in the same position we did leave half to swap about but they wore it off so quick the other half did'nt get a chance to recover, we are buying bales of straw to put down  I said I would'nt do it again but at least it keeps their little feet clean and dry

[too many girls]

don't look out of the window simples

[viettaclark]

 

[beulah59]

Can you go back to your plan of half and half? Fence off half and on the garden side get turf or seed down  - don't forget to treat the soil with some lime. On the side you intend to leave for the chooks, dig it over, add some lime and top it with a deep layer of woodchip from a tree surgeon.

If the problem is that your drainage is poor ... get a drainage layer in one side before turfing, then put woodchip down on that and move the hens in there, so you can put a drainage layer in the other side which you then turf and have as your garden.

Just an idea ... we'd like to see pics and to know what you decide to do! 

[Foxy]

Luckily half an acre is quite a lot for ducks and chooks so take heart! One thing  I advise based on how we manage our birds, is  always, always plan ahead e.g. think now what you will do next winter, and how many birds you will have then

We have a separate wood chip area in the winter for the larger flock  - they still have grass - but tend to stay in the barked area in bad weather. This makes access for us a whole lot easier!

This compound area is around 30foot long (ish) X 18foot and filled with deep woodchip on a base of tamped down fine builders agregate. All the woood chip gets scalped of spring and autumn and used for mulch for the borders. It has gravel steps leading up to it and a gravel pathway edged with gravel boards  running the length inside .The hen houses are to the side of this pathway making cleaning a doddle. I have large houses raised of the ground, the main house is 6X4 on a platform 18 inches of the ground so is rat proof and dry inside.

 The whole area is surrounded by extra high  green electric poultry netting, this blends into the background and is moveable so I can chop and change the grassy area or keep them completely of it. In front of the pathway and just outside the chicken area I have planted a  narrow pretty long border. 
I usually keep the ducks separate and this is a must for us in the winter, or they will wreck the place,and coupled with our  seasonal drainage issues can lead to a nightmare if we are not careful! We keep them in the veggie plot during the worst winter months and then back our onto their grassy run in the spring. Their pond sits on paving slabs in the veg plot and the pathways are dressed with tree surgeons chippings (free) Needless to say my beds are free of weeds, grass or slugs!

[karlooben]

foxy i am so jealousssssssssssssssssssss of your set up , my run is depressing me now as its turning in to another mud bath even though i have wood chip down think i will be diging mine out as soon as it drys  thats a joke .i made my seep litter bed an omggggggg i sunk in it this afternoon and i got to add another bit to it as well as the other side is getting boggy but the girls love it .

i am so going to look at roofing it somehow next year but with the main posts in the centre holding the main walls solid an supporting the roof its going to be very differcult .

[joyfull]

hate to tell you looby but snow has been forcast again for next week 

[too many girls]

NO.....................that's me screaming, can you hear me?

[joyfull]

loud and clear Rom 

[karlooben]

i know i have heard  hopfully we will miss it down here  i pray sooooooooooooooooooooo much .

[Caralou]

I only have a small garden so what used to be the lawn is now a woodchip chook & duck play area  I still have shrubs in the border, some mature trees and my patio fenced off but I decided I'd rather have the chooks & ducks than a lawn so adapted the garden accordingly.

I agree with Foxy that if you have the space creating a chipped area to enclose them in when it is very wet may be a good idea 

I had to rehome a couple of my girls to GrannieAnnie before Christmas as I needed to add ducks for the drake to duck ratio (the drakes love me to bits and each other so they had to stick together) so I know just how hard it would have been for you to rehome some of your flock. I nwould love .5 acres to play with... 2 pigs.... a goat..... 

[Oliveview]

Our lovely white leghorns are looking dreadful!  I went down the garden this morning and thought we had a stray hen in the garden, then I realised it was a dirty white hen   Colin trying to mate with them does not help their white feathers and trying to dirt bath in damp soiis not a good idea:(  Still it is dry today, we have gone 24 hours with no rain
The outside of the hen house is really dangerous, the mud is like an icerink!
Pamela

[chick with chicks]

Hi All!

Thank you so much for all your replies instructive, comical and supportive!
 I think we will go with Foxy! Got to create some sort of surface to walk. Thank you Foxy!

Yes Caralou had a bit of a lump in my throat when the girls left as we had them from babies.

Poppies nice to know that halving up the garden wouldn't have made a difference 

Thanks again,

Carrie

[Brian Green fingers]

This sounds familiar, we let our 8 chooks roam our smallish garden, within a few weeks the lawn was decimated my shrubs had been stripped bare and the place looked a right mess! I decided to construct a run onto the side of the coop and completely roofed it with clear corline and istalled a big dustbath for 'em. Best thing i did! I let them out now and again but they're mainly confined to the run.