# Stinky, muddy, mucky run!



## GratefulGirl (Sep 10, 2012)

Rain rain go away come again another day! 8 inches the past two days, water logged before that and now more is on the way every day at least through Memorial Day! Normally if we were gonna dry out I would just rake out the run and put new hay down. I need suggestions for an interim solution that will not hurt the 2 week old babies. The run is very large. I can hardly stand to go in there it stinks so bad! Thanks in advance for suggestions!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Stall dry should help with the smell. Probably won't do much for that mud though. And its safe around the chicks.

With all the wet, I'd put down straw since hay can mold easily and that is dangerous for all of them.

The hubs is in TX now. He's been on a lot of job sites in the last 40 plus years, he said the mud there is different from any he's ever encountered. He said there was something wrong when you have your window down and driving down the road the mud ends up on your dashboard.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Dig a wee trench to offload the water. If it stinks that bad you can't go in there the birds are really not going to do well. Chickens pack down an area so well any time you get mud like that it is usually compromised of mostly manure. It's a pain in the butt to do, but scraping it down and shovelling as much as you can in a wheel barrow to get it out of there will be really helpful. Anything you put down on top of the mud is going to eventually become part of the mud and make it worse.


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## jimLE (Mar 10, 2015)

*a trench is a good idea..but yet,there's one thing that needs to be thought about,if you go with a deep one.the walls will/might cave in from erosion..,so if you install some sort of supports to keep that from happening..then all you to worry about when it comes to that.is getting the water out of it,when needed... *


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Oh you wouldn't dig a trench that big. Just enough to make a channel for water to run out of. For a more permanent fixture I'd scrape it down to bare dirt, and add a good 4-6" layer pea gravel and rake regularly.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I did the trench thing last year, I wasted a lot of time and energy. While it did move some water away, when it came to down pours it did no where near enough. That's why my pen is now lined with heavy duty plastic. The water now goes under it and the pen stays dry.


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## artsy1 (Dec 16, 2012)

in the same condition here in eastern oklahoma, trenches are helping, actually just scrape enough so it will drain, once it drains i am spraying with oxine, mold and bacteria are going to be an issue, and it was suggested to me to get cypress mulch to put down, it will keep bugs away and help absorb the rest of the water- also lime will help with odor, garden lime, not hydrated- our main coop is on stilts, but water is running under it


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You folks are really getting pounded in that area. The hubs is working on a job South of Houston, it looks like it might be a challenge for him even getting back there after this weekend is over. 

At least your coop is up, I don't imagine most are like yours where the flooding is happening.


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## scallan (Jan 30, 2016)

Me too here in louisiana but did you ever think about digging ditches and use the dirty to fill in the low spots


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

You could add enough dirt to make the ground higher.
You could get a truckload of sand .
You could cover the pen and make the ground higher.
Gravel

Welcome Scallan!


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