Two of our coops were originally storage pods, I think they were called. 5X8X7 ft. tall. We got them for almost nothing at a place that was getting rid of them. DH painted the floors to protect them, and I sprinkled sand in, but not very deep at all. Maybe an inch or so. I put up roosts and poop boards, and put sand on the poop boards too. They have windows, covered with hardware cloth (bought cheap through
Amazon...at least cheap compared to Lowes), and the windows can be open or covered, depending on the weather. This has worked perfectly for me. I tried all sorts of things to use for scoops, and am using the cat litter ones. I kept looking for something to scrape the poop into a pile, and tried many things. Finally found a little flimsy thing at
walmart called a brush rake, I think. Handle is wood...rake part is plastic. It absolutely works like a charm. I can use it with the handle, to gather up all the poop (very easy since it is mostly on top of the sand, and always dry) into a pile and then put it in a bucket. My friend gets all the poop for her compost and loves it! LOL I can take the rake part off the handle and use it as a hand rake to drag all the poop over into a pile, and pick it up. Very very very easy, and I'll be darned if it isn't almost fun! I keep food grade DE in an empty spice bottle, and sprinkle it over the sand on the board, and on the floor. I have never had bugs...no lice...no nothing. And no odor to speak of either. I did see some ants in one corner of one of the coops the other day...sprinkled DE on them and they were gone the next day.
I spent sooooooo many hours, reading all the posts on this board, writing down ideas, and treasuring every bit of advice I got. When I had my thoughts together, we picked up a trailer full of sand...I don't remember if they called it manufacturers sand or construction sand...from a cement company nearby. Then we just threw it in the coops and personally, I don't think anything would work any better. We've used shavings in the brooders, but it didn't seem right to me for us to use that in the coops.
So in answer to the original question...our sand is not deep at all and works perfectly. Even with it not being deep, it still dries the poop out perfectly, and makes it so easy to clean up, leaving most of the sand behind.
And for what it is worth, we have another coop area, with the sides and top being aluminum...like people have on roofs. We set up roosts in there too, and some nest boxes. I was going to put sand on the floor, but DH kept saying to wait and let him paint the walls first (yeah...wait how long?) so I just let it go. There is sand in the poop trays under the roosts, and some gets shoved on to the floor, but mostly I am able to sweep most of the poop up from the cement, even without sand, so that is working too.
The chickens don't spend time in the coops during the day...they free range and take their dirt baths outside. I have never seen them take a bath in the sand.
Lou Nell in Texas
