Loving the sand in my run but ANOTHER concern.....

[JessWebb]

I am loving the sand in my chicken run. It is so easy to clean and maintain and it looks great. But it is almost TOO easy! Every morning when I rake up the poop to scoop out with a litter scoop it literally disappears! I am just concerned that over time the sand will still look good but will be smelly and just consist of particles of poop! Those people with sand in their runs!!! - how often have you done a complete muck out and sand change over? Should I be wetting the sand down once in a while to let the poop drain through into the ground?? Thanks!

 

[Sheysd1]

That's a good question......I want to know too I just finished building my coop and run and I'm using sand as well. I know what you mean by the little particles that are hard to scoop out.

 

[jetdog]

I have had sand in my run for over a year with no problems, I clean it pretty regularly but the small pieces haven't been a problem yet still no smell, I only wet it down when it's real hot they seem to like dusting in the cool sand. If you really want to pick them all out you could attach a small piece of 1/8 hardware cloth to your scooper to really catch them.

 

[thomasboyle]

I have found with chickens, they never make that much of a mess in the sand. Raking and scooping keeps it clean. But my ducks are another story. They make a huge mess, and I have to dig out the sand once a year and replace it with new sand. They just keep their area too wet so it never dries out. You may have to get rid of small areas of sand that become problem areas, but for the most part, you should be fine raking and scooping.

 

[madibhai]

when i tried sand in my coop over time it became dark and didn't look like sand any more.

 

[JessWebb]

Hmmm thanks! I have no problem changing the sand out once a year because I have a fairly small run. It stays dry - the hens don't make much of a mess of it. A few dust bath holes here and there! Thanks for the input! I think I will take the advice and get a smaller mesh scoop!