run flooring

GreenRunner said:

I'm not sure if this is right as after reading this thread I went ahead and just bought it, but I bought playground sand - ie the type for kids to play in. The chickens are THRILLED. They've been bathing in it all day, and @timbowsr is right - no poop. I'm astonished. Yesterday there was poop, today it's vanished! I guess the sand sucks in the moisture and the whole thing gets scattered around.

Best bit of advice I've come across - could've done with it years ago!

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Glad I could help GreenRunner. I haven't done much reading on what type of sand ... a quick search said that playground sand would be fine, but that it compacts a little more than most. I live in Louisiana and our parish ( county ) puts out piles of sand for sandbags. After using the sandbags for a bit I emptied them into my coop for the chicks. My sand also compacted at first but then after all the scratching it fluffed back out and stayed fluffy.

Wickedchicki said:

What kind if sand? Where to get it and dehydrated earth? Just don't want to make an expensive mistake and get the wrong thing

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Sorry Wicked haven't heard of dehydrated earth ... do you perhaps mean Diatomaceous Earth, commonly referred to as DE?? If so, your local feed store or TSC should have it. I believe you can get a small bucket ( about 2 or 3 lbs. ) for about $12 or some feed stores offers a 40 lb bag for about $20. You can get sand in 40 or 80 lb bags from most home improvement centers, or if your coop/run is large you may want to see about getting a truck load from a landscaping company or land fill. Hope that helps.

BTW ... along with the sand one of the best things I ever did for my coop was an automatic waterer. Simply a 5 gallon bucket, some pvc pipe and some poultry nipples. What a difference that made!! I only water up about once a week!!

timbowsr said:

Glad I could help GreenRunner. I haven't done much reading on what type of sand ... a quick search said that playground sand would be fine, but that it compacts a little more than most. I live in Louisiana and our parish ( county ) puts out piles of sand for sandbags. After using the sandbags for a bit I emptied them into my coop for the chicks. My sand also compacted at first but then after all the scratching it fluffed back out and stayed fluffy.


Sorry Wicked haven't heard of dehydrated earth ... do you perhaps mean Diatomaceous Earth, commonly referred to as DE?? If so, your local feed store or TSC should have it. I believe you can get a small bucket ( about 2 or 3 lbs. ) for about $12 or some feed stores offers a 40 lb bag for about $20. You can get sand in 40 or 80 lb bags from most home improvement centers, or if your coop/run is large you may want to see about getting a truck load from a landscaping company or land fill. Hope that helps.

BTW ... along with the sand one of the best things I ever did for my coop was an automatic waterer. Simply a 5 gallon bucket, some pvc pipe and some poultry nipples. What a difference that made!! I only water up about once a week!!

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Tim, do you have pictures of the watering system?

Granny,

Sorry I don't have any pics. I'll try to take some over the weekend though and post them. I just completed a new rabbit "barn" that also has my two chicken breeding pens. I ran the electricity for it last weekend and have ordered the rabbit nipples and am about to install a new watering system that will include a 30 gallon tank. It will feed my old coop, rabbits and breeding pens. I'll post some pics of those as well when it's complete. It's a bit of work at first getting everything in place but it sure does help with all those little chores that add up to a lot of work.

cmak said:

How does sand help control the poop build up? Do you have to rake or till the sand periodically or does the poop just go away? I've got 28 pullets in a decent-sized run (12x16 covered, 16x24 uncovered) that is mostly going to be their winter yard since there will be nothing to forage in the tractor (if it's not covered in snow, it will be too miserably cold and windy to be out). The run is on a slight slope and hard rains blow right in and get it fairly muddy. I'm thinking sand is a good way to go, especially when the spring thaw rolls around. I'm just curious as to how much maintenance it requires.

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Sand is a natural filter when the chickens scratch the sand it allows the poop to settle into the ground and break it down also rainwater will wash the poop into the ground.