4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[judith67]

I have a wooden coop with a run that is not under cover although it is under some trees. We also have clay soil. Due to the very bad summer weather, their run is like a mud bath and today they have just been stupid hens and stood out in the rain they are covered in mud and look like drowned rats.

I put a tarpaulin over half the run which covered the food and water too, but the trouble is there are puddles already appearing on the top of it.

I think i will have to put gravel down in the run, otherwise goodness knows what its going to look like when the bad weather really arrives

is everyone having these troubles too?

[purple hen]

You are not alone, i have just been to B&Q to buy some more of that corrugated plastic stuff so that i can cover more of the run, my dozy girls don't seem to understand that they need to stand under the covered bit.

[Troy]

Can you put some slabs under it instead ? It will make your life so much easier. As long as they can scratch they should be happy enough.

troy

[Hen Watch]

Same here, clay soil.

 

Last winter, I put door mats on top of the ground (the cheap rubber ones with holes in you get in the supermarket) which raised it a touch. Then put Auboise on top of them on the run floor. The whole run was covered with a shower curtain. They were OK actually.