Can't seem to win. More sick birds?

[Ahoragi]

Thanks for clarifying the shavings, I was assuming you meant in the run. But, yeah, just having that under the roosts would not be optimal. I have poop boards as well, I scrape them daily, makes things a lot easier and keeps the stink, and flies, down. I tried sand on them once, didn't like that at all, more work, more stink. But some others like it. I took it all out and just use the boards. I put a piece of plastic wall paneling down on top of the board so I can take that out when needed and scrub it down, but daily I just scrape with a large putty/spackle knife, goes in a bucket and then to yard, flowerbeds, garden. And the shavings on the ground in the coop, under the poop boards, stays cleaner and lasts a lot longer.

Did you try sand in the run? Thats what we are using now and it seems to be ok. Can scoop up the poo here and there.

There is this litter type stuff that resembles sand that they use in horse stalls. PDZ Refresher I think it is called. It is excellent on poop boards. No scraping needed. Just scoop with a cat scooper. The poop floats on top of it. I wish I found that stuff sooner. Zero smell, even up close.

 

[coach723]

My covered run is shavings over very sandy Florida 'soil'. So yes, I kind of have sand in my run. I have no issues with drainage or flooding, even heavy rain drains off pretty fast. Smell is almost never an issue, unless, like I said, we have a massive sideways rain or hurricane. The shavings helps keep the digging down to a manageable amount in the covered run. I have fayoumi's who dig like crazy for dirt baths, makes it look like it's been carpet bombed. So the shavings encourage them to go outside into the very large open run and do that, instead of in the covered run (though stubborn little monsters that they are, they still do it some). They have massive dust bathing space outside. I prefer my poop boards bare and scrape-able, it's just easier and quicker for me. I have about 40 birds currently, and trying to scoop after that many every day just takes too long. I also try to not have to buy more consumable supplies than absolutely necessary. I have a fair amount of animals, a fairly large hay/feed bill, so pinch pennies where I can. Scraping and washing is free, PDZ is not. And the pine shavings last for quite some time, and are cheap if I need any. For those with smaller set ups, fewer birds, smaller coops, PDZ may be awesome. Not knocking it, just doesn't really fit my needs. And when I tried sand on my poop boards I absolutely hated it. I know some love it, just didn't work for me.