About to spread sand in the run - any prep suggestions?

[CandiceN]

I have 5 bags of all purpose sand for a 4X8 dirt run. I know I might need to buy more, but it's a start. It hasn't rained since Sunday, it's been nice and sunny so the ground is dry. There's a few holes in the dirt; should I try to flatten it out first before spreading the sand or is it pointless? I am going to wait one more day since it's not supposed to rain again until Friday. Should I put some DE down to dry it out even more?

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[djennings]

A lot of byc members say that before they put the sand down they put a layer of some kind of pebbles first. Reason for this when it rains, the water will drain through the sand and into the pebbles, leaving you with a better chance of not having water standing in your run.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I agree with a layer of gravel below the same so water can flow through. I also add extra broken gravel by their waterers and feeders.

 

[CandiceN]

I was so close to buying some bags of gravel at Lowe's yesterday! How thick of a layer do you think I'd need? I might skip it for now, just do sand for this year and redo it in the Spring. It will get destroyed with all the snow we get anyways. We're planning to disconnect the run for the Winter since we can't figure out a cheap way to cover it in a way that could handle the snow load we get up here in NH.

Thank you for the replies!

 

[bloom_ss]

I just dumped 14 bags of sand on the ground in my run and I didn't use gravel first. I figured that since it is so close to winter I will probably be adding more sand and stuff in the spring anyway so I just went ahead and did it. So far it smells a LOT better and it is easy to rake the poop out. I don't have any drainage problems in the yard so hopefully it all works out and I won't even have to redo it next year.

ETA: My run is almost 10'x10'

 

[CandiceN]

Quote:
Thank you!

 

[yellowirenut]

Ive been reading about sand also...
The tube bags you put in the back of pick-ups for winter weight are soon to be on sale (they can be dirt cheep). I have broken them open before and its a mix of mostly sand and some small gravel. Has anyone used this cheep sand before?

 

[CandiceN]

Quote:
I have some of those in my basement from when I had a pickup truck! I think I have 4 tubes. I don't have the truck anymore, I should add those to the all purpose sand I have.

Thanks for the idea! I'll have to check out what's in those

 

[kuntrygirl]

I put down washed sand in January and I didn't do any prep work. I just dumped in on the ground and leveled it. I have not had any problems with it.

 

[mamahuhn]

we did sand and layers of organic soil,so far we had great results with this.every 4 weeks we add another layer and the girls love it