Chicken Run

[denise70]

I use sand and mine is pretty frozen. You wouldn't think it would, but it is. The ladies did manage to dig a small area for some dust bathing, but it took them awhile. I am finding it difficult to clean in the winter because I can't rake it. Only good thing is that the manure stays sort of on top and sometimes I can scrap it off. In the other seasons it was awesome though.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
Thanks very much.

BTW: I've read threads on here in the past where people have put gravel down before the sand and very quickly regret it. The gravel gets mixed in with the sand and then becomes a big mess that is extremely difficult to clean and hard on the chickens' feet.

 

[can't get enough chicken]

I just put sand in. I hope everything goes well

!

 

[welasharon]

Ground doesn't freeze here. I have sand and love it. Mine in covered so it stays drier. I have some polish and at first it wasn't covered and they just stood in the rain dripping so we had to cover it.
sharon

 

[can't get enough chicken]

There is no snow where I live so no problem there

 

[chickenshagg]

When there is snow on the ground I seperate squares from bails of straw and put them in the run. My chickens don't like the snow so I lay these clumps at the bottom of the ramp to their pop door. They love to scratch through this spreading the straw and picking at the seeds. It provides a nice cover on the snow and will decompose come spring, When the snow melts they will be back to their pea gravel and sand.

 

[jim-pav]

Thanks for the great question as I was wondering the same thing. My 10x20 coup right now is covered with snow. But prior to that it was like squishy mud with a lake in it they could probably swim in.. lol I too was not sure what to do about it. I do know that my cochins feathered feet get all muddy and nasty looking.

Jim

 

[Country Parson]

Sand will almost always freeze in the winter unless it stays completely dry. Sand, in and of itself, does not freeze. However, the moisture in the sand will (and so, practically speaking, the 'sand' freezes). But, achieving this level of dryness even in a covered run is probably impossible--or very difficult. In my former home I had a pole barn that had dry sand, and even in -40 degree weather it was loose, dry, and wonderful. The chickens loved it.

 

[patandchickens]

As far as mud type problems go, see my 'fixing a muddy run' page, link in .sig below, for suggestions. Multi-pronged approach is best (rather than trying to fix the problem with just ONE change e.g. different substrate)

For the o.p. surveying what people do, my runs are all roofed, some are on (preexisting) slab with as much hay/straw/weeds as I can manage to keep in there atop the concrete, and the other runs are on dirt (I chuck in garden weedings and stall cleanings and such, but wetness is not much of a problem because of being roofed). If I had an un-roofed run I'd get in a load of roadbase or other cheap mixed-size-with-lotsa-sand aggregate.

Pat

 

[Schroeder]

Amen to the sand! I like it in winter too because I can easily shovel the snow and a little sand and just throw it in a pile elsewhere in the run. The chickens won't walk on the snow, but when they can see the sand, they come outside.