Our chicken yards used to be hard-pan due the the soil-killing properties of vast quantities of nitrogen-rich chicken poo. Stinky on good days, vile and slick on wet days. No more! We put down thick layers of mulch and it is so much better.

The mulch we got was from a local pallet company — they shred the old pallets and sell the shreds as mulch. A product called “hog fuel” would also do the trick — you are looking for the cheapest product they sell that is free of paint, stain, and cedar.

As chicken poo breaks down, it contributes nitrogen to the soil. As mulch breaks down, it consumes nitrogen from the soil, so these two work together nicely. Under the mulch, worms and bugs hang out which motivates the chickens to scratch around and stir the poo into the soil and prevent the formation of a thick layer of yuck.