Sand instead of grass in the run

[MacNobody]

I have a rather small back yard. I am wanting to basically build a sandbox and use that as the run.

Good idea, bad idea?

edit: Good grief, I am tired. Let's try to make more sense, shall we?

My thinking is that the sand will be easier for me to clean up. I plan to use cob bedding inside the coop and pine needles outside. I can scoop up the pine needles pretty easy when it needs to be cleaned outside. If I don't use pine needles, and just go with bare sand, the chickens can scratch that pretty easy.

With just the grass, will it be too messy with 6 hens scratching it?

I am thinking about a 5'x10' run for 6 hens. Is this big enough?

 

[JanetS]

We use sand in our chicken's run. It works great. Easy to clean.

 

[MacNobody]

We use sand in our chicken's run. It works great. Easy to clean.

Thanks Janet.

I realized just now that I didn't have a lot of detail about my plan - so I edited the original post.

 

[bugflipper]

A run of grass that small would soon be bare ground then of course mud when it rains. A sand box bottom would be ideal. They churn it themselves so there is little to no cleanup needed on a regular basis.

 

[MacNobody]

A run of grass that small would soon be bare ground then of course mud when it rains. A sand box bottom would be ideal. They churn it themselves so there is little to no cleanup needed on a regular basis.

This is good to hear, thanks for the reply!