Concrete Sand In Run?

[CAJUN_CHICK]

Good Morning All,

Our chicks are still in the broader but getting big fast. Our coop and run is still a work in progress. I am wanted to use a sand bottom in my run. I have read many things about using construction sand, unfortunately I cannot find any. All I seem to have around here is concrete sand is that usable?

 

[GodofPecking]

it's perfect.

cement is a powder made from limestone, it's one item.
mortar is cement and some sand. It's two things together.
concrete is cement, sand and stones. It's three things together.

The kind of sand you use in this situation will not have any great difference on the outcome. If you wash the sand a bit, by putting it in water and spraying the end of the hose into the water to stir it up you'll see if it is dirty sand by the water getting cloudy. If the water is clear or becomes clear with the swirling, then the sand is just fine. Small amounts of dirt don't matter.

What DOES matter a million times more is reinforcement for the concrete floor. If you don't put any mesh into it, it will crack and the cracks open up over time.

You can get reinforcement bar called 'rebar', about as thick as a pencil and holes about the length of a pencil on each side which you put into the concrete and never have to worry about cracking ever. You put a few barrow loads or a dozen shovels full of wet concrete on the floor and when you're about half the thickness you want, you place the mesh onto it. The idea is that it will be in the middle of the concrete by the time it's all done. Cut whatever mesh you use so that it doesn't reach all the way to the edges of the concrete. You want at least an inch or better two inches of concrete all around the edges of the mesh so that scratching the concrete can't expose the mesh.

You can use a few layers of chickenwire as your mesh if you have nothing else. Fencing wire is good too. avoid heavily rusted wire or iron or steel, but a tiny bit is ok, like a new piece left out in the rain has a 'little bit' of rust after a week, not a corner is rusted away 'little bit'.

 

[GodofPecking]

You'll need good eaves ( eaves are where the roof is wider and longer than it needs to be, to keep rain off the walls as well ) on that coop, as you're using radiata pine, rather than hardwood. Radiata pine has to be kept dry, or it won't last as long. The blocks will help keep it dry which is important for this pine too, but if termites live where you are, they can sneak up between the blocks where chooks can't get them. if you do a concrete floor, I recommend not using the blocks at all, instead use a continuous concrete slab so there are no cracks for critters.

 

[CAJUN_CHICK]

it's perfect.

cement is a powder made from limestone, it's one item.
mortar is cement and some sand. It's two things together.
concrete is cement, sand and stones. It's three things together.

The kind of sand you use in this situation will not have any great difference on the outcome. If you wash the sand a bit, by putting it in water and spraying the end of the hose into the water to stir it up you'll see if it is dirty sand by the water getting cloudy. If the water is clear or becomes clear with the swirling, then the sand is just fine. Small amounts of dirt don't matter.

What DOES matter a million times more is reinforcement for the concrete floor. If you don't put any mesh into it, it will crack and the cracks open up over time.

You can get reinforcement bar called 'rebar', about as thick as a pencil and holes about the length of a pencil on each side which you put into the concrete and never have to worry about cracking ever. You put a few barrow loads or a dozen shovels full of wet concrete on the floor and when you're about half the thickness you want, you place the mesh onto it. The idea is that it will be in the middle of the concrete by the time it's all done. Cut whatever mesh you use so that it doesn't reach all the way to the edges of the concrete. You want at least an inch or better two inches of concrete all around the edges of the mesh so that scratching the concrete can't expose the mesh.

You can use a few layers of chickenwire as your mesh if you have nothing else. Fencing wire is good too. avoid heavily rusted wire or iron or steel, but a tiny bit is ok, like a new piece left out in the rain has a 'little bit' of rust after a week, not a corner is rusted away 'little bit'.

I should have been a bit more specific. We are either putting down gravel or stepping stones and gravel. Then covering with the sand. I was wondering if the concrete sand could be used like a poop litter instead of pine shavings ect.

 

[CAJUN_CHICK]

You'll need good eaves ( eaves are where the roof is wider and longer than it needs to be, to keep rain off the walls as well ) on that coop, as you're using radiata pine, rather than hardwood. Radiata pine has to be kept dry, or it won't last as long. The blocks will help keep it dry which is important for this pine too, but if termites live where you are, they can sneak up between the blocks where chooks can't get them. if you do a concrete floor, I recommend not using the blocks at all, instead use a continuous concrete slab so there are no cracks for critters.

Thank you, yes it will have eaves. Not sure about the wood that's all the hubby, we will be using a water sealer. Those blocks are filled with cement no cracks.

 

[GodofPecking]

Yes, you can put any sand in on the floor as poop litter, that would work well.

Good to hear about the eaves. The blocks are filled I saw that, but you can't glue them together into a single piece, they are still single bricks and so they have a space between each brick is what I mean by a crack, I use the wrong words. 'Between the bricks" is more appropriate...

 

[CAJUN_CHICK]

Yes, you can put any sand in on the floor as poop litter, that would work well.

Good to hear about the eaves. The blocks are filled I saw that, but you can't glue them together into a single piece, they are still single bricks and so they have a space between each brick is what I mean by a crack, I use the wrong words. 'Between the bricks" is more appropriate...[/QUOT

Thank you.

 

[aart]

We are either putting down gravel or stepping stones and gravel. Then covering with the sand. I was wondering if the concrete sand could be used like a poop litter instead of pine shavings ect.

The sand will settle down into the gravel, may totally disappear.
Sand doesn't work like shavings.
Shavings, or better yet wood chippings in run, will dry out poops and the carbon in the wood will help break the poops down.
Tho you may be able to sift the poops out of sand, you'll never get it all and eventually the sand and/or gravel will become saturated with pulverized poops and stink when the least bit damp.

 

[CAJUN_CHICK]

The sand will settle down into the gravel, may totally disappear.
Sand doesn't work like shavings.
Shavings, or better yet wood chippings in run, will dry out poops and the carbon in the wood will help break the poops down.
Tho you may be able to sift the poops out of sand, you'll never get it all and eventually the sand and/or gravel will become saturated with pulverized poops and stink when the least bit damp.

Thank you.

 

[Mama fluff]

I should have been a bit more specific. We are either putting down gravel or stepping stones and gravel. Then covering with the sand. I was wondering if the concrete sand could be used like a poop litter instead of pine shavings ect.

Lol I knew what you meant ! I don’t think I would use that in run if it gets wet won’t it harden into cement? I use construction sand fortunately my husband works in a asphalt plant and gets it for me ! If you have a quarry near but you can buy it like you buy mulch by the yard !