Smell free & easy to clean run floor

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morgannn

morgannn

In the Brooder
May 7, 2016
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I have recently built a run for my 7 pullets( soon to be 5 b/c of roosters :barnie ) right now it is just the dirt that was there (don't worry I buried wire so nothing can dig under) but I'm think that I want to put something else on top of it. I was thinking about putting stones that are 2-3inches big under the food/water area so that they cannot scratch dirt into their water. I would then put a few inches of construction sand on the other half to scratch around in and dust bathe. Would this keep the smell down? I read that you can scoop the sand like cat litter and I figured that I could spray down the rocks with a hose. However, if prefer to not have to clean the run every week, I'd like as little as possible.

Also, would pea gravel be better than stones? With the stones they could definitely not scratch it up as they could with pea gravel. But would the stones be hard on their feet? Any other flooring suggestions would be appreciated :cd
Thanks for your help :D
 
Last edited:
you can put the waterer on something like a cinder block.
and don't feel annoyed about the roos, some people get 10 chickens and 7-8 are roos you just never know.
give them some actual dirt to dust bathe in. give them some sand too for grit.
 
Try sprinkling some PDZ, used for horse stalls, in your run.

I was torn between DLM & sand after alot of reading here, someone peeped in & suggested I go DLM due to knowing our weather conditions here (Hawaii). I have no regrets going with the DLM, however my "run" is also my coop, I added a poop board under the roost, over the nest box. Works great, my girls run the fenced yard during the day when I'm home. Just rack the shavings when it needs fluffing.

In your case, sounds like your run is what they spend the day in, thinking the sand easier to clean/scoop up poop than the gravel. The idea of spraying down the gravel sounds simple but don't think the smell would wash away, and if you don't have good drainage it may make more of a mess. I maybe wrong but just my thoughts...


 
I have the waterer hanging up just high enough for them to drink, but the run floor is incredibly dusty because it never gets wet. It has a roof so it is always bone dry. Whenever they scratch the dirt doesn't go directly in the water, it's the huge cloud of dust that settles that makes the water dirty and then I have to clean it frequently
 
ChickNanny13 said:
Try sprinkling some PDZ, used for horse stalls, in your run. I was torn between DLM & sand after alot of reading here, someone peeped in & suggested I go DLM due to knowing our weather conditions here (Hawaii). I have no regrets going with the DLM, however my "run" is also my coop, I added a poop board under the roost, over the nest box. Works great, my girls run the fenced yard during the day when I'm home. Just rack the shavings when it needs fluffing. In your case, sounds like your run is what they spend the day in, thinking the sand easier to clean/scoop up poop than the gravel. The idea of spraying down the gravel sounds simple but don't think the smell would wash away, and if you don't have good drainage it may make more of a mess. I maybe wrong but just my thoughts...
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'll try and get an order of sand in soon. Also, I love the color of your run! Too cute!! :D
 
Definitely don't do pea gravel if you go with sand--it then becomes impossible to scoop poop from without picking up pea gravel. I laid pavers around the perimeter using pea gravel to pack them in and I'm now scooping up pea gravel when I scoop poop even through 3-4 inches of sand. If you don't want to clean daily, DLM may be a better choice than sand. The poop kinda disintegrates into the sand if you don't scoop pretty frequently, I can see how it would become a stinking poopy sandbox pretty quickly.
 
Another factor that needs to be taken into consideration is how big the run is, and how many will live in it. If the run is too small for the number of birds, it will be gross and smelly even with daily cleaning.
 
It's 8'x10'- pretty large I think. There will eventually only be 5 chickens max- I have one or two "wait and see" chicks that I don't know the gender of yet.
 

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