What to put on ground of chicken run?

[tantricdragon13]

Just popping in to revive this thread. I live in TN and am in the process of building our coop and run. I've been debating on how to handle the run flooring, and it does seem from this thread that sand is a huge contender for top dog (hen?).

Here in TN it tends to rain a lot during the spring season, which of course, is right around the corner. I'm definitely concerned that if I leave the ground bare, the run will become a mud hole quickly. Am I hearing right that sand drains and drys well? TN is also famous for having some clay in the soil, though I'm not sure how much is under my coop site. One of the posts in this thread expressed concerns for clay-type soils and sand becoming hard to remove. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'd hate to have a chicken poop concrete slab to deal with, but otherwise it's sounding like sand is the way to go.

 

[dbdurden]

Actually adding sand to clay soil will make it easier to work with not harder (unless you add concrete mix to the sand . Sand will definitely help with drainage and it won't cause any issues with being hard to remove.

 

[KFaye]

I love sand. Also made a strainer. Cut opening on bottom of a bucket. Lined it with hardware cloth. I shovel sand/poop in and it sifts the sand back on the floor. Then dump poop in bucket and pile it in a compost bin. I call the mixture CSS (Chicken **** and Sand) my neighbors love it and put it in their gardens.
Once in a while the girls "sunroom" gets flooded on one end. I lay down a layer of stall pellets (saw dust pellets for horse stalls) it absorbs the water and when dried out it is just saw dust I mix into the ground. It is called the sunroom because I have a long addition with the southern side wall all plexiglass so it is sunny and warmer in the winter.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

People never believe me but I have oats growing in my run along with some grass. The trick is to have it large enough that there is plenty of room and I throw out whole oats everyday which is more than they could reasonably eat in a day. What ever they don't eat then sprouts and now that spring has sprung I have clumps of greenery all over the place. I plan to get some clover and dandelion seeds to add to my oats to add to the greens.

 

[tantricdragon13]

Actually adding sand to clay soil will make it easier to work with not harder (unless you add concrete mix to the sand . Sand will definitely help with drainage and it won't cause any issues with being hard to remove.

Well, that settles my concerns! Sounds like sand it is! And I know my girls are looking forward to a good dust bath. They've torn up their pine shavings trying to get one!

I saw that some folks have mentioned different types of sand earlier in the thread. Anyone have a preference or is there one that is best to use?

 

[crazyhen]

I would use play sand. It is not sharp and drains better than regular washed sand. The rounder pieces don't stick as tightly together.

 

[Taxibuy]

I have had just dirt for the last month, while Hubby was deciding if we would leave the coop and run where it is. So yesterday we were going to move it. Nope! Not gonna happen! We had a small coop and added onto it and now it is to heavy to move with out runners! LOL But I did need to do something with all the mud from the last few days of rain, so in the came the pile of sand. They just love it! I also was able to add the bucket of wood ashes I was saving for them, they had a hole dug so I put it there and they have already spread all of it around and out of the hole!

 

[chalet girl]

I'm so glad to have found this thread!! I was considering bark or wood chipping s but we get a lot of rain here so I'll go for sand as well. Im planning to get a coop with an attached run. I thought I'd take off the grass where i want to put the run....( i can use it elsewhere in the garden) Then put down a layer of gravel then the run (with wire attached to the bottom) , then a thick layer of sand. The wire will keep predators out and keep the hens from scratching up theggravel. Would this be a good way to go?

 

[tantricdragon13]

I just checked out the sand offers at our local Lowe's. They offered a sand in bulk, but it didn't specify what type it was. It seemed to have the same texture as the play sand. Does anyone have any experience with this or have happened to use the bulk sand at Lowe's?

 

[Leha]

After reading all the threads and investigating costs.. I went with SAND. Best thing we ever did for our girls!! They stand around in a circle and take sand baths (it entertains my kids to no end) it's easy to clean, when it pours rain, there is almost no pooling and it drains off fast, without turning the run into a muddy cesspool of yuck. My ladies would cluck and complain if they had to stand around in mud and ick, but the moment we upgraded them to sand, they were quite happy to give us loving looks. They have shavings and straw in the nesting boxes and sand in the run and since figuring out their likes, we've been blessed with lots of eggs. Lots of eggs tends to equal happy birds in my house.

So anyone that is thinking of materials for the bottom of their run.. SAND. It's cheap and will make your girls (and you!!) very happy!!

We ended up purchasing multi-purpose sand at HD. Compared to the kids play sand, it was about half the cost. My girls also like all the pebbles and firmness under foot.

This is a great thread for helping anyone decide.