Help! Sand turned green!

[ChickDrmr]

I put sand in our run last week because of the constant rain and flooding we've been having here in Florida. Looked great for about a day and then turned green and smells worse than ever. Yuck!
The sand has never been able to dry out because it is raining every day without much sun in between. And the flies are horrendous! I put down some DE and raked it but that didn't do a thing. I can't scoop out the poop because it's constantly getting wet and soaking into the sand.
Help!!

 

[chfite]

I found that the sand needs to be 4 to 6 inches above the surrounding area to keep it above any standing water. If it so wet and shady that it has turned green, raking it to turn it over might help.

The sand itself won't smell bad, there must be some concentration of organic material to create the smell.

Not knowing more about your exact arrangement, I cannot think of any better suggestion than raking or adding sand.

Chris

 

[ChickDrmr]

I did not pull out all the grass underneath and my husband said that may be why it turned green. My original hope was that there would still be some grass growing around the edges for them to eat. Not sure how wise that was in retrospect.

 

[Our Roost]

Sounds like you have a very high water table with inadequate drainage for water run off. Pretty much like an underground septic tank system. Unfortunately wet soil of any kind breeds mold among other things. Sand is like a sponge but because it is made up of glass crystals, it doesnt hold water like dirt does. It entraps it because of its density but dries out very rapidly when exposed to heat. You need some good Florida sunshine to dry you out and rake it out. Your not going to get away from the stench that chicken poop has when its wet. The odor will lighten up when it drys out. Routine clean up when its dry out will help with that. If there is anything growing underneath your sand, the chickens will find it when digging their trenches and bunker holes as I call them. If there are any roots, they will find them and eat them also. You can have fresh grass within a run and in a few weeks it will be barren from the chickens eating it down to nubs! Try using some cypress mulch mixed in with your sand in a few areas. It will absorb and pick up the poop droppings when you rake. Good luck and I hope this helps ease your mind.