Ground cover in an open air run

[NimsHouseGarden]

I am finishing up construction on my chicken run this week. For cost reasons, I chose to only cover part of the run area, I have been hoping to use sand in that area, but have read that sand is not good to use in areas that get wet, I am not sure why... Does anyone have any alternatives? I have a mixed flock of ducks and chickens and want to something that drains well and I can clean easily.

Thanks!

 

[azygous]

What is your location? Knowing it we can research your climate and soil conditions and advise you more effectively.

As rule, sand can work well in a run as long as the runoff is directed away from the run. If your climate is arid for the most part, wet sand from rain will dry out quickly and not be a problem. But is the run also receives runoff, sand can become a smelly soggy mess.

 

[NimsHouseGarden]

What is your location? Knowing it we can research your climate and soil conditions and advise you more effectively.

As rule, sand can work well in a run as long as the runoff is directed away from the run. If your climate is arid for the most part, wet sand from rain will dry out quickly and not be a problem. But is the run also receives runoff, sand can become a smelly soggy mess.

I'm near Charlotte NC. my run has a decent downhill slope (this picture isn't great, but shows the configuration). Ignore the mess, still under construction.

Soil has a fair amount of red clay, but is generally pretty loamy.

 

[azygous]

Are you on the coastal plain? If so, your soil is sandy and should drain okay. If you are where the soil is reddish, you are not so fortunate as red soil indicates clay which is great if you want to make bricks, but the stuff has lousy drainage.

 

[NimsHouseGarden]

Are you on the coastal plain? If so, your soil is sandy and should drain okay. If you are where the soil is reddish, you are not so fortunate as red soil indicates clay which is great if you want to make bricks, but the stuff has lousy drainage.

Any good alternatives? I'm Piedmont/Foothills. So we have loamy soil. (Silt, clay, sand)

 

[azygous]

Loamy soil should drain okay. You can probably get away with sand as a substrate as long as rain run-off is directed away from the run and any rain soaking the run can drain away.

I use ordinary construction sand in my runs, and find it very functional and convenient. During hot weather I actually wet the surface to take advantage of evaporation to cool the air.

I also have sand in my coops. I find it easy to scoop poop as you would a cat little box, which keeps things clean, odor free and much less flies and bacteria.

 

[NimsHouseGarden]

Loamy soil should drain okay. You can probably get away with sand as a substrate as long as rain run-off is directed away from the run and any rain soaking the run can drain away.

I use ordinary construction sand in my runs, and find it very functional and convenient. During hot weather I actually wet the surface to take advantage of evaporation to cool the air.

I also have sand in my coops. I find it easy to scoop poop as you would a cat little box, which keeps things clean, odor free and much less flies and bacteria.

Thank you so much! I want to get it right the first time.

 

[perkolator]

My alternative to sand is wood chips/leaves/rakings/shavings/grass/any organic material. Mimics a forest floor vs a beach/desert, drains very well/never holds excess water, promotes insects/worms/critters for birds to forage, never have to clean it, doesn't stink, basically a big compost pile that I can pull material from to amend plants with.

 

[NimsHouseGarden]

My alternative to sand is wood chips/leaves/rakings/shavings/grass/any organic material. Mimics a forest floor vs a beach/desert, drains very well/never holds excess water, promotes insects/worms/critters for birds to forage, never have to clean it, doesn't stink, basically a big compost pile that I can pull material from to amend plants with.

Thank you! That's great advice. I recently heard about a service that is supposed to deliver wood chips for free! "Free chip drop" or something.

 

[perkolator]

No problemo. Yes, it's called ChipDrop. It's free or you can pay them. I have gotten many chips at my property and used that service a few times, but decided to stop as I've had better success just calling local arborists directly to ask. I didn't like waiting up to 7 weeks to get a delivery, twice I had deliveries with large logs hidden inside the pile (when I checked the box asking for chip only, no logs - and these were big logs like 12" diameter 3-4ft long), and two piles got delivered half on the road that's only about 1.5 cars wide and there's plenty of space to take like 3 loads.