How do I clean sand in wet weather and how many grams of food to give chicken?

[skywalker786]

Hi,

I got some excellent advice to put sand at the bottom of my chicken coop, it has helped to reduce the smell and made it easy to pick up chicken poo. What I didn't tell u was I lived in UK, where it rains. It has been raining heavily for the past week, and I clean the coop once a week, because of the rain the poo has softened again and dissolved more in the sand because of the heavy rain.

Q1.What do people in this forum do to clean coop with wet sand covered in dissolved poo? I know most of you are based in US. Is there and great tip?

Q2. I give my chickens layers mash, on the bag it says to give them 110 grams per day, because I have 2 chickens I give them 220 grams a day, is his enough? They seem to munch a lot, I also supplement there food with kitchen left overs and dandelion leaves. I'm i giving enough or not enough or just about right amount food?

Thanks
S

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

I use sand as well. And sometimes parts of my run gets pretty wet with poop in it. I have found that you really can't do much about it until the sand dries. Then you can see the poop thru the sand. If it is only damp, I turn the sand over so the top dries and I can see the poop. At some point you need to clean out some of the sand and add new sand. I have to add sand a couple times a year as not only am I removing some of it, but the poop does get mixed into the sand and pooped up. You might take a look at this thread and even post this question here, as this may have your answer or someone there can help you more than I have....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/444759/got-sand-you-should

Good luck with your sand! I do love my sand and will never return to regular bedding again. Welcome to our flock!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! TwoCrows gave you some good suggestions on the sand. Not sure if you saw the long thread on it but lots of comments on taking care of it https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/444759/got-sand-you-should

With the feed, most commercial feeds say to free-feed laying hens (they should have the food available at all times) the 110 grams or whatever is the "average" amount of feed the average laying hen would eat just to give you an estimate of what to expect. How much your hens need will vary by a lot of things, age, weight, breed, activity level, are they laying, what other food they are getting etc. Most people will put food out every couple of days and just refill it when it is empty.

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

I don't use sand in my runs. I also free feed, and the birds eat what they need each day.

 

[gander007]

 

[chickie farmer]

Kelsie x2. I've never tried sand but lots of people have. I fill my feeders and refill them only when they get very low. If your chickens free range, they will eat insects, weeds, grass, dandelions, etc. which helps on the food supply.

 

[drumstick diva]