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Janey4

Damp Run

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Hi All.....after a bit of advice (again!) please...

 

We have had our little girls since the beginning of July and although its been wet, its now consistently cold and damp and I'm a little concerned about how they are going to cope.

We have a covered run on slabs, with walls on 2 sides and then I had rigged up some plastic on which stops some of the rain getting in, but its still very damp and doesn't get much sun, which was great in Summer because it was nice and cool, but a bit depressing now!

Their house is approx. a foot off the ground, perhaps a little more and I wasn't too concerned about that but my Mum as got my fretting about it and suggested putting them in the garage at night 'until its less damp' but my fear is that its going to be pretty much like this now until Spring!

They stay in their run until the afternoon and then come out for a few hours, unless we are in and then they come out a little sooner. If its pouring down, they stay in the run.

What's prompted my query is Feathers (named by my 4 year old!) was a bit peaky Saturday afternoon and was a little bit hunched up and looking a bit pale and miserable. I've put some tonic in their water and they were all wormed at the beginning of November. They have had a warm breakfast the last couple of days and she's been eating and drinking fine, although her droppings did seem a little loose, but after looking at many, many photos of chicken poo on the internet over the weekend, I'm not sure if I was able to reach any conclusions!

She seems happier today and have seen her having a group dust bath with the others, but I'm just a bit concerned the cold/damp is going to make any little thing worse. 

 

Jane x

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I went for a drive to Flyte so Fancy the other day and brought home some bags of wood chips (among other things) I've dotted some bags around the run - mine is on a slope so some rain does ooze in a bit.  I've opened two of the bags on the slushier parts and the little munchkins love scrabbling in it.  Luckily it's very free draining soil so when it stops raining it does dry very fast.  I made the change as I found mould and little toadstools forming in a recent bag of Aubiose.  I'm told the wood chip would last for 6 months or so.  I also put down ground sanitizing powerder too.  

Don't get bark chips because of the spores.

This weather has been abysmal lately - I'm sure the chickens get a bit down just like us!

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3 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

I went for a drive to Flyte so Fancy the other day

Nice there isn't it Valkyrie.

I've also got my woodchip from there - a nice day out if you can do it and cheaper to drive than pay the postage.

My woodchips will have been in the run since Feb '17 and show no signs of needing replacing.

When I just had slabs everything just used to get very wet and poopy even though I would scrub it every day. The wet slabs were also very cold and damp.

One of the best things I've bought and certainly keeps their feet a lot drier - unless like yesterday the rain just blew in from every direction.

 

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It was vile weather wasn't it - horizontal rain doesn't help with trying to keep chooks dry!  We were in Hook over the weekend - the drive on Saturday was horrid all the way.  That's good to know that your chips have lasted so well.  I bought 10 bags (don't be too alarmed Janey - I have a huge run), but only used two.  The rest are strategically placed, trying to make a wind break!  I'll use them as and when needed, but so far all's well.  Even where the soggy bits were, the chips = dry feet.  I thought Flyte's was lovely too and the guy manning the desk was so helpful.  I also added some hemcore and by the time I got back the boot (or is it the pick up bit?) smelt wonderful!

I had been throwing Aubiose down on the wet patches but it only helped a little bit - then the girls were happily eating some of it!  Noooooo! :roll:

And just realised I wrote powerder!  Eejit - I meant powder!

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Thank you for your replies!

We do have wood chip down already (also bought from Flyte So Fancy!) which I forgot to mention in my post, but I'm not sure if I should put another piece of tarpaulin up as there is still half without it on, but I was concerned about it almost keeping the damp in more...?

Perhaps I'm just being a bit of a fuss pot because they don't seem to have wet feet unless there are out in the garden or scratching in the 'muddy corner' that they have all worked so hard to create!

I'm taking Feathers to the vets this afternoon, as she just doesn't seem herself still.....as soon as I go out, she's rushing over and cheekily coming into the garage to look for treats but I keep peering at them out if the window and have seen her looking quite miserable again......

Thanks again! 

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Good luck with Feathers.  I think as you have ventilation and the ground has chip down there isn't much more you can do - keeping food dry is important.  But horizontal rain is such a pain!  We've had so much rain recently that this morning has been lovely - mine were all preening in the sun.  Just off to clean them out before the heavens open later on.

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Thanks again!

I think another tarpaulin is the way forward to try and minimize the rain getting in when its going sideways......🙄

I didn't end up taking Feathers to the vets because after me saying she looked miserable, I let them out a bit later and she has been happy as Larry all afternoon ….I I think a bit of sun may have been what the doctor ordered! When my Mum saw her today I think she thought I was mad even considering taking her to the vets as she said she looked 'smashing!'

My sister is a vet nurse, so if at any point she needs to be seen, she can squeeze me in but agreed if she was looking ok again, getting her all stressed bringing her in may do more harm than good.

Will just keep an eye on her.  

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Luvachicken its probably 2/3 inches in places and then 5/6 in others where they have scratched it into 'hills!' There is a strip that isn't on flags and was grass, which they have scratched to the soil and I try to keep the chips away from their feeding area a bit, just to make it easier to clean up anything that has been spilt.

I just worry about missing any poos that end up sitting under all the woodchip and causing issues.....they like to seem to fall though the gaps!

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4 hours ago, Luvachicken said:

How deep is your woodchip ?

 Maybe you just need to add a bit more.

I think you may be right about that Luvachicken, because I’ve realised that I think the reason my run is in such a state at the moment is that I’ve let the woodchip get too low so there aren’t enough wood chips to allow the moisture to be on the bottom and a drier layer on the top.

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