Mud, mud glorious mud - what do you put on the ground in the run?

[beachyhead]

Now I am not complaining about the weather as it is well overdue, but I was planning on doing a bit of a chicken run sort. What do I put down on the ground, where the mud has gone really soft....Straw, woodchip, sawdust? The run is outside (not covered, although they have two houses and two shelters) and we have 6 chickens and 4 chicks (who are out with the big birds now!)

[beachyhead]

mud mud...

[NasalCoffeeEnema]

As mine free range, nothing in the run but when it was permanent then I used to use auboise/hemcore/otherhemphorsey bedding

[beachyhead]

They semi free range in a paddock during the day, but as the chicks can slip through the paddock fence, I tend to put them in the run if I am going out (thats if I can round them up!). I know the local pet place does hemp, so I might try soaking up the mud with that....Thanks...

[hiddenhome]

We have several concrete flagstones and I put some hardwood chips down.

[Grumpystiltskin]

Straw, works quite well for us and is something for them to scratch around in.

[cruelladepoppins]

We move our run when they have scratched all the vegetation up, and start them on a new bit of ground ... luckily we have enough room for several such moves until the first patch has recovered.

[cadelaide]

We use sand, they love it.

[nickelbabe]

We have just soil in the run, but part of it is now covered with bubble wrap because of the rain. (it's held down by pieces of wood)

at my old house, the run was in an outbuilding and there was a huge sheet of plastic on the roof.
that got replaced with clear onduline.
makes it hot in the sun, though, so we'd have to prop it up.
(thankfully the whole run was also in the shade of very tall trees)

Also, the chicken coop is on stilts, so they can shelter under there, and there are a couple of stools to shelter under, too.

It does get muddy, but it dried really, really quickly this time round.
(in the winter, there will be more plastic covering the run, because it will rain more often)

[nickelbabe]

oh, and I replenish the ground every 6 months or so - just throw in garden cuttings, gravel, anything like that.
it gives the chickens something to do, as well. :)

[beachyhead]

Thanks - we tried some stuff at the chicken shop which is like wood shavings or little twigs - seems to have done the trick.... Thanks