[littleblossom]

The previous house owners kept chickens and the ground round the old coop is very muddy most of the time. We would like to keep chickens but there is no other place in the garden for them to go, so does anyone have any tips on what to do with the ground before hand please?

[rosie14]

Hi and welcome I guess you mean the chooks will be in a run permenently is that right? We have a similar problem when it is wet. I'm not sure there is anything you can do to the ground apart from increase the drainage, but in fact I'm not sure how much that will help. The best solution I can think of is put a roof on your run (or such) in order to limit the amount of wet that can get into the coop. When chickens in a small area mix with wet it can get rather smelly because of their poop.

Ours is partially covered at each end the middle gets very sludgy and messy (earth floor)although we scrape up often. We are looking into something to put onto the floor and have been asking advice here as to what's best. Our run is 4 x20 foot or so but the hens also FR alot but only when I am around. My folks have a massive massive walk in run bigger than 80 foot square I'm sure and his gets muddy when it rains, he has maybe 25 hens roughly at a time so plenty of room.

Good luck 

[loretta cluck]

Mine ended up in the same state...contacted a local tree surgeon and bought a couple of bags, (industrial size), of wood chippings which now cover the run, and the lawn that they trashed...they love it for scratching about in, and so far, easy to keep up to.

[JaK]

I swear by miscanthus. It really is brilliant stuff and cheap to boot.

[littleblossom]

Thank you for the replies, sorry I should have introduced myself but forgot that I had registered with this forum (feb 2010!! where does the time go?!)   :blink:
The ground here is very free draining but the chucks have made a real mess. I will have to delay getting some of our own until I can find a solution.
Wood chippings sound good.

[littleblossom]

And miscanthus is?

[rosie14]

Lol re micanthus I had to google it after it was suggested in post the other day. I am still undecided or rather I have decided to put a full roof on ours and then cover with something I can get hold of and replace easily (disposing of whatever we use is a prob. although someone suggested putting a bit out for the bin men at a time which is what we will do) but hubby is yet to win round as he's been appointed the job 

[splash101]

Rosie14, Compost it, the dalek style compost bins hold quite a lot and dont take up too much room. We got ours free from the local council.

[littleblossom]

Can someone give me a link to the thread please?

[JaK]

Miscanthus is a type is animal bedding used for horses and poultry. It is a type of grass (almost read like) that is dried and chopped up into small peices (and dust extracted). I use it both in the coops and the chicken runs. It is really absorbant but dries out well too, doesn't smell and the chickens can scratch around in it. It can be left down for a long time (in a deep layer) or you can use a thin layer and change every other week or so. It makes fantastic compost once the chickens are done with it too (perfect for the veggie plot). I buy mine from the local farm supply store for just over £6 a bale and it lasts a good while, a real bargain.

[yacks]

I use miscanthus ... It is also known as elephant grass ... The girls love it rolling in it scratching around in it and ducks like to eat the little bits of it

[littleblossom]

How thick would a thick layer be?

[yacks]

I use whole bale on two houses and another in run but I do have smelly ducks who like to spill water everywhere lol and do lots of poop lol x

[rosie14]

Rosie14, Compost it, the dalek style compost bins hold quite a lot and dont take up too much room. We got ours free from the local council.

thanks splash 101 we do compost but our compost is full!  :blink: and we only have a small garden with small plot for veg. The chooks along with the dog (as a pup last year) ruined the garden between them so have little use for compost...I used only a small chunk this year on baskets etc....maybe I should restore the garden?!

[nuzuki]

If you have some time before the chicks arrive I would spread some grass seed there and you could also rake it in. Do this when its dusk else all the birds will see you scattering the seeds and eat it before they germinate.

Out of interest do wood or bark chippings help control the smell? I have a marshy boggy smell in the garden that appears to be near the chicken run. Im not sure if its due to all the rain weve been having or if its the smell or rotting chicken poo