Stinky sand!

[sbergstrom09]

Hi everyone! I switched to sand last fall for my coop due to the cost of shavings being too much. The sand just stinks like ammonia! We do a thorough cleaning of poop but have to buy/diy poop boards under their roosts. There are two small open vents and a small window that’s open to help with ventilation. Over the weekend I even went through and cleaned the sand plus mixed it to allow any wet sand to dry. Why does it stink?! Help!

 

[Debbie292d]

You could try mixing horse bedding pellets in it. We just use those on the coop floor and it absorbs poop, moisture, and odors, no smell, no maintenance.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I've heard sand sticks and stays wet. I use deep bedding method and my bales of pine bedding are 6.00 a piece. It takes 1 and 1/2 to fill my coop floor . I stir and toss it only once a year. Are you familiar with this method? There's a great article about deep bedding on here if you need to read more about it. No smell low maintenance.
I also have poop boards filled with coop refresh or pdz to a few inches. Scoop once a week some scoop daily like a cat box. Hope this helps .

 

[Jimmy W]

I have construction sand in my run, even though the run is covered, when it rains, the sand grabs the moisture. (my mistake for putting part of the run in a swale) I do get a slight odor at times and remove droppings daily from sand in run and poop boards in the coop.

I assume you do not have a raised coop, and use sand as the floor in the coop. If that is the case, I suspect the ground moisture is not draining and the sand is holding the moisture.

Other than removing the sand and going back to shavings or something cheaper, not sure on a quick and easy solution.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't have experience with sand but photos of your set up would help, like Jimmy W mentioned it makes a difference if the coop is raised or on the ground. It's a little concerning that the vents are described as small and that there's an ammonia smell.

 

[FrostRanger]

If you don't mind getting a ton of woodchips, chipdrop will give you a dumptruck of them for free. You'll just have to go on their website and see if it's available in your area