Grass or Sand

[kyquilter]

We currently have 10 hens. We have a coop and lock them securely in there at night. In the day, they can go back and forth into the coop but we have a 5' x 15' run for them. My husband built it using pvc pipe and chicken wire. Here it is:

It's round and we can't stand up in it. We move it every Saturday so the chickens have fresh grass. But, by the 3rd or 4th day, there's a lot of poop in there and the chickens are walking through it and it's on their feet. (This design was not my idea!)

The local building supply place has a 10' x 10' dog kennel. We could buy that, put a cover of some kind on it, secure it better around the edges, probably insert wire down several feet or put wire in the bottom and then cover it with sand. We will definitely secure it but my question is:

Is it better for the chickens to have fresh grass every week and walk through poop or would it be better to switch to the dog kennel that I can stand up in, bring in a load of sand and then I could rake it out every 2 or 3 days so they're not walking in poop?

We never let them free range so the only grass they would get is what we would toss in to them.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[BlueEngineFarm]

I love the idea of a chicken tractor. We tried building one but it wasn't sturdy enough for the wind and so didn't last long enough for anything to build up. I know there are many who use them though.
If you added sand to it I think it would defeat the purpose of them feeding themselves.
Lynne
3 roosters, 40 hens, 5 sheep, 3 goats, 1 highland steer pet, 4 rabbits, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 1 great working husband and 2 helpful children

 

[TcherDawn]

I do love my 10 x 10 dog kennel. My 5 chickens decimated the grass in short order. I like the sand idea and will do that once I get my permanent coop built and the run permanently placed.