Best 'floor' material for a small chicken run?

[Jersey101]

We have a small coop with our three little d'anvers/modern game mixes in it.
Right now its on gravel and it's very messy - the poop sits on top, they step in it and tread it everywhere and the feed is growing shoots round their bowl where it's fallen under the gravel XD they love it but again, that grassy patch is not conducive to a clean run.
We had their old coop on plain old dirt and that was a little cleaner, but not much as the soil is fairly hard packed and poop, again, just sat on top to get trodden in...

It's not a run we can move or get into easily to rake the floor so I'd like some advice on a material for the floor that's will stay clean a little longer between big clean-outs!

How are sand/ bark/sawdust/ anything else you've tried?

I'd imagine sand might be best as poo will get buried in it, or at least coated in it and dry out a little? Or am I completely wrong?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[jetdog]

Sand is great but you still need to rake and sift the poop out with a cat litter scoop, like anything else the more you clean it the better it will look and smell. If your in tight quarters try to find a small kids rake.

 

[makrands]

I'll repeat what others have said. Sand, sand, sand. I have it in my run 18x10 and it is great. I throw down PDZ once a month to hold down any odor. The run is easy to maintain because poo sticks to sand and dries making it a easy to shovel up and toss into compost pile. Sand is great for drainage too. Some of the birds don't like wet feet. Sand drains fast allowing them more time in run.

 

[Beckaberry]

Personally I like straw. They absolutely love to scratch and lay in it and contrary to what others may think, it's easy to clean out. I rake it all into a big pile and then just grab an arm full. In three loads I have it cleaned out. Our coop is 10x10. My girls don't like sand. I've tried it and they won't stand on it. Go figure. Every bird is different!

 

[3chickchicks]

I use sand and PDZ. I have a turkey fryer skimmer that I use to clean.