Anyone use SAND in the run/coop

[whillo]

Here in Oregon and a week of rain. I read on here that we should put construction sand in the run. It was okay, but not what I expected in the last 3 months. I thought I would be able to pick up the poo better, but it would pretty much get buried. I would rake it once a day and turned it with a shovel every couple days. It was HEAVY. Now, since the rain it's very very hard..can't rake it and turning it makes huge chunks. Obviously I have the wrong sand! (The coop is on concrete and has a roof. Not a lot of splash because there is a tree over the coop.

I was really looking forward to being able to use that kitty litter scoop to get out the chunks. That couldn't happen on the hottest days!

So...now I need to have hubby help me remove all those pounds of sand and replace it with something lighter. What's the general concensus on that and how do I specify that? Playground sand, no. But construction sand... are there different levels or grades?

Thank you for specifics!

 

[whillo]

Double post. Silly iPad.

 

[MaKettle]

Whillo--

I had the same problem as you...bought playground sand, after doing a lot of research on this forum. Very quickly I found that it is impossible to rake out...my poo just magically got turned over & disappeared. (I did take this to be a good thing!)...I have not had the smell issue, though I am now using Stall Dry in the run...I am having the same issue with the hard clumped sand. Will plan on digging it all out next season & putting a coarser grade sand in.

There are all types of construction sands out there...I think it depends a bit on what part of the country you are in. I think the main thing is that you want it to be coarse. Play sand is very fine & when it gets wet, it packs down hard. I learned that the hard way!

Try some sort of drying agent or DE in your run to see if that helps you with your smell..

 

[chickerdoodle]

We bought a load of river sand and its been in the run since April. We have a completely roofed run with a 1 foot overhang on all sides. The rain doesn't seem to get in the run unless its really windy like yesterday when a little gets in. We also note that a lot of poo "disappears" quickly but our sand is still soft.

I clean it with a brush rake that has small spaced metal tines. I just gently rake the upper area of the sand (I do not dig far into the sand) which I then put through a strainer my hubby made for me. The strainer is basically 2 pieces of 1/2 " hardware cloth crossed to make and the holes about 1/4." which is stapled onto a wood frame. I place this approx. 12x12 strainer over an empty cat litter bucket and let the sand sift through (pretty easy as most just sifts itself). I then I toss the almost pure poo and feathers into the compost and the clean sand back into the run. So far this is working well.

 

[pigcoon]

I've been very happy with the sand in my run. But I have a tarp roof over it so it doesn't get wet, which seems to help a lot.

 

[rolffamily]

Our coop is divided in half. One half has a fine sandbox sand and the other a coarse riverbed sand (that was recommended by an article on this site). The sandbox sand quickly dries out any poop and is easy to sift through, lift the clumps and just dump into the compost pile. The riverbed side is very loose-since it is so coarse- if drainage would be a problem. However, because of that coarseness, the poop seems to break up instead of clump, so removal is not as efficient. Odor is virtually nil. Our chickens are outside most of the time, however. There would be a lot os sifting, scooping if they were confined inside.

 

[72elizabeth]

Hi everyone. I have an open coop with a tarp for a roof. I live in No. Fl. half my run is for my guineas and the other half is for my ducks. They all free range all day and only use the coop at night. I have sand in the coop/run. It's working out great for the guineas and me. Someone on this site suggested a eel net to pick up the poop, and boy it's great. Now, how about the ducks. They are really messy. How do I keep their side white and clean? The guineas side look so clean, but boy those ducks. What can I do? HELP

 

[6chicks&aduck]

I have sand in my run and i use a large cat litter scoop , it takes me about 20 min a day to sift out the poo , & i have a raised section w deeper sand for dust bathing works out well.

 

[6chicks&aduck]

it also worked well when we had ducks ,to use the cat litter scoop , the sand needs to be a little deeper though for ducks , since thier poo is so loose

 

[AccentOnHakes]

How deep should the sand be? What would be the minimum?