Help me pick a sand!

[Tylt33]

I'm looking at filling my chicken run with 4" to 12" of sand. I found a local landscaping company... the only problem is that they have 22 varieties of gravel/sand. If you had a minute to weigh in on which sand would be most appropriate for the job, please take a look at:

http://www.sutherlandscape.com/catalog/gravel-and-sand/view-all.html

Thank you very much!

 

[Mahonri]

Is your run shaded?

... if so I would go with...

 

[Tylt33]

Quote:
Yep, the run is fully shaded. That's the one I was looking at originally- the Salt and Pepper Pebble. I was also considering the 3/8" granite, as that looks to be the same as the Grit that I just purchased. However, the salt and pepper pebble is like half of the price...

 

[oldchickenlady]

I like that salt n pepper one, it will not 'show' the poop so obviously as just plain white sand, but will it be easy to sift and rake? You have to take that into consideration too, oh and how about drainage?

 

[BankerJohn]

go with the "crusher dust" for the top of the sand bed. With this size, you will have an unlimited supply of grit. Cleaning the floor will be easy with a kitty litter scoop.

If you have a 12" depth to fill, perhaps you may want to consider a more coarse 3/4" rock for about 8" then cover the rock with landscape cloth. Place the sand on top of the landscape cloth. This will allow water to wick thru into the voids below in the rock layer. This is how I prepped the flooring on my open air coop run.

 

[wormy270]

If you have access to a truck or trailer, and have a rock quarry close by, dont mess with a landscape dealer. You will pay dearly. I go to my local quarry and get a ton of rock dust or screenings for $20.00. It is a very nice grey color and works great.

 

[harewizard]

Hmm..
I would go with Plaster sand. In Fact, I Did!

*Very soft on the feet (no bumble foot or hard edges)
*They bathe in it and love it!
* No smell as the sand dries out the poo!
* Every week or so, I rake up the dried clumps and sift with a kitty litter tool...all's clean!
*Drains extremely well!

All the good points and haven't found a bad point!

JMHO!
Lisa

 

[mgw]

I would go with the fill sand it will have plenty dirt for dust bathing plus should drain O/K. also will have larger stone for grit also will pack somewhat so you can rake it out once in awhile and add an 1 " or 2 now and then. looks like you have your work cut out for you with this one, no clear favorite in this poll.

 

[MaKettle]

It does look like you have your work cut out for you, as you haven't gotten any clear winner..

I used something like the salt & pepper pebbles that were shown earlier in thread and regular playbox sand on top, after reading many threads about sand in the runs. Very early on, the pebbles came to the surface of the sand, making it virtually impossible to use my kitty litter scoop because the pebbles get in with the poo. I just end up scraping up & throwing away pebbles with the poo.

If I had it to do over again, I'd do either ALL sand or like one of the other people said, I'd lay landscape cloth down over the pebbles and then put the sand down over the cloth.

My only comment about pebbles, is that I wonder how easy it would be to clean them & get your poo out.