Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone and their critters.

My first battle of the new year and in fact ongoing battle from last year is combating mud in the run. I have never known the run so muddy in my two years of chicken keeping. The rain has been relentless and yesterday as well as heavy downpours we had a hailstone storm too. It has rained all day and all night for days and is forecast to continue like this for days to come.

I know parts of the country are flooded so we are lucky by comparison but I was fed up of seeing the girls with muddy feet. The wood chip helps in the area of the run they like to hang out in but the edge bordering the veg plot was a quagmire despite me turning it every day. The girls do mostly stay off that part but when they see me go up the garden towards them they run to greet me and stand in the mud. It’s not quite so bad for the big girls but the little girls sink up to their little ankles and look as if they have no feet. I do tell them to stay off the mud but do they listen to me!

Ideally it would be good to drain the water outside the run but as we only have plastic sheeting over the garden part of the run it would be tricky to rig up any sort of drainage system and we need something more instant for now. My husband suggested that I put a board over the muddiest part. We had a plywood sheet in the shed from a previous project that would do the job. I Laid it over the mud and sloped it down towards the veg plot so that the water would run off.

This will achieve three things. The water will run off onto the veg plot, the ground underneath will have a chance to dry out a bit and the girls wont be standing in mud.

I did wonder how long it would take the girls to step onto it but even if they didn’t it would still be better than them standing in mud. I sprinkled a few dried meal worms onto the board to get them started.

Pepper has a fluffy bottom

I love these  fluffy bottoms and for the first time in ages, Pepper, in the foreground, has no bare patches on her bottom. She has finally got her fluffy bottom back after her moult.

Amber was the first to step on the board

It’s funny how the smallest girl is the bravest around something new.

Testing the new board

Getting braver

Before long the girls were all happily walking on the board. It has really worked well because each time I go up to them they run onto the board and their feet are looking much less muddy. The middle of the run is dry so they can dust bath, it’s just the edges that were staying muddy and this edge was the worst part of all.

I have now put some tiles into the triangular space in the corner of the run to the left of the board. This means all of the wettest part is now covered. For now I think this is the best solution to this problem and will improve the run for the girls and for me.