sarah d Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) Has anyone else ended up with a chicken run full of mud due to recent weather!! Any advice at all on how to combat this? Is it worth putting bark chippings on the ground? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all very much for your advice!!! Edited December 14, 2007 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Me! Claret suggested putting aubiose/ hemcore down to soak up the water & give some "grip". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 A deep layer of hemcore and a rain cover over the whole run works for me! Drisabone . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Has anyone else ended up with a chicken run full of mud due to recent weather!!Any advice at all on how to combat this? Is it worth putting bark chippings on the ground? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! protect/shield it from the elements as much as you can stick some aubiose/hemcore in. Not much different from what others have said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol U Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I find that an Ikea clear plastic shower curtain (85p) over the run does the trick. It keeps whatever bedding you use dry and the sides can be pinned up or let down according to the weather. I use hemcore, but any of the others work equally well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I have to say though that we've got a shower curtain over ours, Aubiose in the run and it's still like a quagmire. Outside the run is even worse, you have to skate down to the chooks to let them out or put them away, our gardens ruined, not by the hens but by me getting to them during this foul weather. Mrs Bertie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChicken Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 , our gardens ruined, not by the hens but by me getting to them during this foul weather. You have my sympathy. I'm starting to wonder why I didn't put the run at the top of the garden, or even at the end of the concrete drive. On the subject of stopping your run turning into a mudbath Sarah, try covering it like others have suggested, it's worked for me. I'm using the Omlet winter cover (why didn't anyone tell me about the shower curtain before a paid out £20 ). Mine are on chipped bark whick is slightly mulchy on the side thats exposed but 75% of the run is just a little damp. When they dig through the bark I cover it up again before letting them out the next morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlaidegg Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 I have to skate to my eglu too!!!!!! It's soooooooo muddy! The chooks have hemcore in their run so they aren't muddy at all. However, I have a clear shower curtain on my shopping list for the next time I 'pop' to IKEA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy64 Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 i put straw in my run i find it saves money because its the straw i use for the nesting box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 The problem with the Ikea shower curtain solution is that it's impossible to pop to Ikea and spend 85p - I'd be in there all day, spend vast amounts of money on bargain household things I don't really need and end up in a rage at the idiot trolley drivers who wander round in a daze blocking the way. I love Ikea but hate shopping there! Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Licken Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 my girls are sporting a teco shower curtain (mostly clear with blue and green bubbles that match the green eglu!). In the run they have hemcore and around the bottom they have the log roll to keep the hemcore in. It is about 1000 times better than the barkchip area that I had them on this time last year. Also I have the eglu and run opening out onto the patio area this year (last year it was the other way around). The garden is still like a quagmire due to the sheer quantity of rain but no here near as bad as last winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little chickadee Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 The problem with the Ikea shower curtain solution is that it's impossible to pop to Ikea and spend 85p - I'd be in there all day, spend vast amounts of money on bargain household things I don't really need and end up in a rage at the idiot trolley drivers who wander round in a daze blocking the way. I love Ikea but hate shopping there! Jo ebay is a good alternative. I think I paid £4 for mine but didn't pay the £100 I would have paid to actually go to Ikea. I decided to let the ebay person go for me!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
