Finally a dry chicken pen!

[azygous]

Got those, too. Branches crashing onto the roof no longer even startles the chickens.

 

[Secondof9]

Yes many tout it, now and more so in the past. They might ingest too much of it, causing clogging in crop and digestive system, but I think that's pretty rare.
The biggest problem with sand as bedding is that it stinks to high heaven when damp/wet as you can never sift all the poop out. It's also labor intensive.
What to use for bedding is highly dependent on your climate and especially your management techniques.

I tried sand in the run at first. Even though my neighbor/friend and long-time chicken keeper said "I wouldn't do that". But typical to my stubborn streak I put it in anyway thinking it would drain the rain away better. Nope!! "Stinks to high Heaven" is an understatement for my situation. I scraped it out and replaced with wood shavings. The ones that seem to work best here I get at Tractor Supply and are a little bit coarse. Each climate has it's own challenges, so use what works! And maybe listen to your neighbors...

 

[TheRealWitwiki]

Thanks to all the likes and great comments on this post. I thought it would be relevant to a lot of people seeing how the weather has been very wet for a while now. I like how everyone bounces ideas around and great suggestions. I see pictures all the time of great coops with covered runs and dream of something nice like that one day, but I have a coop that was pre existing when we bought our house and property. In a way it’s nice to think that years ago someone was raising chickens in that very coop and in a way I’m continuing the tradition so to speak. Keeping chickens is my hobby and me remodeling our house is my wife’s hobby! So once her long list is done maybe just maybe I’ll get around to building that dream coop, but for now this old one will do.

 

[luvmigirls]

How excellent, the sand holds the tracks of the predators!

I have sand down in my run and after almost two solid days of steady moderate rain, I am so glad I did that. The coop is covered with a plastic corrugated roof which is angled to keep the rain running off the back. The only place were there was any water in the run was where they had dug a hole and the water has seeped in. The mud here is like glue. If you walk on it it just cakes up on your shoes. Unfortunately, all around the outside the set up was muddy where the contractors had killed all the grass. I had sand left from the delivery for the run so I just spread it all around the outside of the coop and run. One benefit, I can now easily tell if there have been any pesky raccoons sniffing around because they leave very nice foot prints in the sand

 

[Kluk-Kluk]

@Folly's place @aart

It's snowing today. Just wanted to post a couple of pictures of the covered run in the snow. Although there are still bricks on the plastic, it's also stapled to the wooden frame.

And here's the "roof" from inside the run.

What I want next is to wrap the bottom 2 ft. or so with plastic so that the snow doesn't blow in as much as it currently does.

 

[aart]

It's snowing today. Just wanted to post a couple of pictures of the covered run in the snow. Although there are still bricks on the plastic, it's also stapled to the wooden frame.

Looks fairly sturdy with the 2x4(?) welded wire mesh on 24"(?) spaced rafters...
...and you could stand on that bench to use the roof rake.
You do have a plastic bladed roof rake, right?
I highly recommend getting/making one.

 

[Folly's place]

It does look sturdy, nice work. How about adding more supports between the exisiting rafters? That would make a difference.
Wrap the lower four feet of the run with plastic, or the entire windward sides, leaving the upper leeward side more open.
Mary

 

[Kluk-Kluk]

You do have a plastic bladed roof rake, right?

I think ours is metal........ But a push broom might do the trick. The branches of the spruce actually hold back a lot of snow under the tree. So far we've had a mild winter.

 

[Kluk-Kluk]

How about adding more supports between the exisiting rafters? That would make a difference.

Since my husband is the builder, I'll have to see how it holds up and if there's a problem, maybe he can suggust putting support between existing rafters.... know what I mean?

 

[aart]

But a push broom might do the trick.

Probably, but would be a pain.
I made this with scraps...most importantly a threaded window squeegee socket and an extendable pole. Blade is 1/8" thk plastic.
Pretty hack and slash, and a bit fragile, but it's worked for 3-4 years now to clear my crushed then bolstered and tarped shed.

Eh, you might not even need anything, am just reliving my own horrors