Cleaning sand in coop- strong odor

[The Lazy L]

...One of the biggest problems I have is that their food ends up all over the floor and it goes right through the holes in the litter scoop so I can never get the floor fully clean like I want...

Don't give them any more feed until they have all of the food on the floor cleaned up! They will do it.

 

[morris p]

I'm all about poop boards under the roost. That way with one scrape into a bucket I've cleaned all night's poop accumulation. Super quick and easy and means I don't have to clean the sand as often.

 

[grannyh6]

I'm hanging feedbags under mine

 

[mac888]

We've had our 4 for just over a year, with a sand floor in a mostly covered run.
I'm about to put down a layer of shavings over the sand. Chickens must pee a lot, as the sand is very smelly, even when quite dry. I'm hoping having some organic material to take up the wet might be better. The next step would be to try some straw.

 

[Ghosty]

I have posted that I LOVE using sand, but I do not keep food and water in my coop. The reason sand takes care of the poop odor is because it dries the poop and pee. The food is likely soaking up any liquid from water, poop and pee and causing your coop to smell (probably terrible). I see a lot of good suggestions on here, but as long as you have food and water inside the actual coop, I can't see cleaning or odor improving too much. :/

A nipple waterer with a tray, and a no spill PVC bucket feeder might help. I use a nipple waterer in the coop for nights and mornings. I feed from the big black feed pans you get at the farm store. I put them in the coop at night and take them outside in the morning. My chickens don't waste pellets at all, and I never see food on the coop floor or outside on the ground. Could be because they free range all day, and so they don't see the need to scratch in and play with their food, idk. I use sand in my run, but not my coop. My birds don't use the run that much, and it is uncovered, so I just rake it once in a long while and let the rain do the rest.

 

[Suzy P]

I have posted that I LOVE using sand, but I do not keep food and water in my coop. The reason sand takes care of the poop odor is because it dries the poop and pee. The food is likely soaking up any liquid from water, poop and pee and causing your coop to smell (probably terrible). I see a lot of good suggestions on here, but as long as you have food and water inside the actual coop, I can't see cleaning or odor improving too much. :/

We are looking at changing our run to sand and putting a roof over the run, but not using sand in the coop. We have food and water in the run. We do free range our hens.

 

[pollosita]

I have sand in my coop, nesting boxes, and in the run. There is no smell. The poop dries out fast. I love it and it was the best decision I made. I just scoop up the poop every other day and it stays dry and smells fine. I am soon adding sand to the fenced area around the coop and run, where they hang out. It smells there because it is where they spend most of their poop time. It is sort of free range area that is fenced in but there is no grass there anymore so sand can cover it. They do have their "salad boxes" that I made with land scape timbers and small mesh wire. They are full of green treats which grow over night and they keep it nibbled down getting their greens each day.
My problem is that I think I have mites or something. I don't want to clean all the sand out of the coop and nesting boxes so I am trying to find the best way to get rid of mites and small black jumping bugs...fleas?
I have the DE which I use in their bath so I will try to add that to the sand in the coop and see if that helps. The girls already have raw places on their backs and wings from the bugs and I am afraid I am going to lose my flock. I keep apple cider vinegar in their water. Have not tried garlic anywhere yet. Any suggestions of how to clean the coop when you can't remove all the sand?

 

[FreedomGalTx]

Is your sand staying dry, or is it damp? And how is the ventilation in your coop?

The main idea is to keep things as dry and well ventilated as possible. One of the main reasons folks like to use sand is that If it gets wet, it will dry out faster than just about any other coop/run flooring/bedding material (e.g. wood chips, straw, dirt, etc.), and won't rot/decompose (although wet poop and/or food in the sand can still do so).

But even with sand, you will also need good drainage and ventilation to let any accumulated moisture run out or evaporate. So if your coop/run is trapping moisture in, you may have a problem. Make sure you have good drainage, and keep windows / etc. as wide-open as you can, weather permitting.

Finally, there will always be a little bit of "smell" involved w/ keeping livestock -- it can be kept down, but think that it's somewhat unrealistic to expect to eliminate in entirely. Really strong odors / ammonia / lots of flies / etc. indicate that you've got a problem that needs attention. But a little bit of mild "animal" scent is par for the course.

I'm having the same problem just 8 days in! I bought $$ no dust sand at $30 a bag. Small coop. I scoop it every morning! With hemp bedding I would stir and go, no smell, but dust. I'm thinking I wasted $60 on 100lbs of sand. I smell the urine. I have 3 windows, all open and I started opening the main door. However I'm in South Texas so I'm really wondering what's gonna happen when it's hot & humid.