Got sand? You should!

[aggiemae]

Sand isn't great in a brooder as the chicks have looser poops that hens and also seem to dump the water so often. I use old bath towels that I change daily. They are absorbent, non eatable, proved good traction and can be sanitized in the washing machine and reused.

We have used 'Stall Dry', a brand of bagged volcanic sand, on our coop floor for a few years. Easy clean up with a cat litter scoop, no odor and there are far less flies that with any other bedding we have ever used. We don't keep any food or water in the coop though. If did I need to have an indoor waterer I would but it in a wall mounted or otherwise spill proof container.

 

[aggiemae]

Is there anyone who doesn't scoop poop in their runs? I have never scooped poop. I just work the poop in the sand. No smell, no problem.

How often do you all scoop poop and how much poop are you scooping? How many birds do you have that you're having to scoop poop>?

I scoop the coop every morning, It's about a quart of poop and goes right into the compost. I clean out the run twice a year by siving the sand through a 2x2 foot sifter we built. It's a lot of poo, maybe two 5 gallon buckets and the hens are only shut into the run a few hours in the morning when no one is home. I really like sand in the coop but this coming fall I am going to try to revive the coop floor by tilling it and laying in leaves and mulch.

 

[mommyoftwo]

How deep should I make the sand? My run area is about 24 by 10 feet and how when we get any ran it floods and makes muddy mess for the birds and myself when I have to go in their. I called my local landscape place and the have sand for 18 a cubic yard. Which will cover 8 sq ft a foot deep, 16 sq ft 6 inches deep or 32 sq.ft 3inches deep. Should I place stone under the sand when j dig up the ground? Maybe an inch or two of gravel then covered by 3 inches or sand?

 

[Mrwinchester]

How deep should I make the sand? My run area is about 24 by 10 feet and how when we get any ran it floods and makes muddy mess for the birds and myself when I have to go in their. I called my local landscape place and the have sand for 18 a cubic yard. Which will cover 8 sq ft a foot deep, 16 sq ft 6 inches deep or 32 sq.ft 3inches deep. Should I place stone under the sand when j dig up the ground? Maybe an inch or two of gravel then covered by 3 inches or sand?

I put 6 inches in my run and they have no trouble digging down, i Think the deeper the better. I bought my sand at a local quarry much cheaper.

 

[mommyoftwo]

I don't have one near me.....

 

[gino100]

Had mine delivered by a landscape company. Look for someone that sells mulch, rocks, etc. they generally have sand too.

 

[busymadre]

Is there anyone who doesn't scoop poop in their runs? I have never scooped poop. I just work the poop in the sand. No smell, no problem.

How often do you all scoop poop and how much poop are you scooping? How many birds do you have that you're having to scoop poop>?

I have river sand in my run and wood chips on my coop floor. The roosting bars have poop boards under them to catch their poop. I put a layer of Sweet pdz (not sure of the spelling - the stuff used in horse stalls) on the poop boards which makes it easy to scoop away the droppings. Think they must push some of it onto the coop floor getting up and down off the roosting bars. A good thing - keeps the floor from getting smelly. I change the shavings about 1X a month, but there isn't any smell or bugs, even with these hot days we have been having lately.

I don't scoop poop in the run. I think the scratching and dust bathing they do out there must work the poop in. It doesn't smell, it's dry and not messy to walk into. I keep my water and feeder containers hanging out there. They tend to push some sand out of the run, but other than that, all is working great.

I also bought 2 bird treat "cages" that I hang on the wire fencing. When I have vegetable scraps, I fill those up and they love pecking at it. Keeps most of the treats off the sandy floor and gives them something to do.

Don't believe eating the sand is bad for them. They need the "roughage"

 

[WinterLadyAK]

Ok sand lovers, here is my situation: 8x8 chicken area in side coop. I live in very Northern New York where our winters start in Sept (sometimes) and can last until, well right now it is May 23 and still cold (we have truly seen snow fly on the Fourth of July here). So, how does the sand do during the LONG COLD WINTERS? It can literally get -40 degrees here in Jan and Feb. Will a sandy floor become too cold and hold moisture and end up freezing in the winter?

What would be the best choice for floor covering for our winters?

I think I posted about this problem earlier in the thread... it IS a problem in cold environments. Several of my chickens lost parts of toes to frostbite this last winter (it was a REALLY cold one), and I think it was largely due to the sand. Too late, I put straw on top of it. That helped. But then when springtime came getting RID of the straw.... oh boy it's still not all gone! And I so miss the look of the nice straw-less sand. This winter I'm hoping to try something else over the sand, at least inside the coop. I haven't come up with anything though, and don't want to deal with removing the sand every winter, that stuff is heavy and where would i put it all?! I didn't really notice the sand floor holding moisture, it was just solid and cold. But there wasn't much moisture in my coop, I actually had it way OVER-ventilated last winter.

Even despite the winter issues, I love sand so much in the summer! Watching them dust bathe in it and how clean and dry it is... makes the winter struggles worth it. I'll post if I think of something better than straw to put over it. (I'm sort of thinking something like a very self-contained straw mat, maybe with a tarp underneath it so separate it from the sand layer?)

 

[jstlitlome]

Hi,
I was at Gander Mountain last week. Was walking thru the turkey frying equipment aisle. (yeah, they really do have one!). Anyway, they had a long handled metal scoop for skimming in a deep fat fryer. It looked perfect for scooping poop in a coop with a sand floor.
http://www.gandermountain.com/modpe...Mesh-Skimmer&i=412211&aID=505O4C&merchID=4006
It was the one with the 36 inch handle. Nice thing I like about it was it looked like it could stand repeated disinfecting.
Just saying.
Karen

Thank you Karen! What a great idea!

My sand dried up and scooping poo is much easier now! The only problem I have now is that the cheap plastic kitty litter scoop lets the small pieces fall through. I think this may solve my problem!

DId a little search for like items and got this one!
http://www.amazon.com/Typhoon-Profe...id=1371297908&sr=8-36&keywords=skimming+ladle

I'll let you know how it works!

Thanks all!

Leslie

 

[MiniCoop]

Hi. I'm new to all of this. I like the idea of sand in the run. I was thinking of putting down 4" of sand. Is it OK to put it on top of the ground that's already there? I mean do you have to scrap it down to bare dirt, put gravel, fabric cloth, ect.. , before you put the sand down. Do chickens dig down that much that they would totally mess it up?