How do u take care of your sand?

[wannabchick]

Do u , what?..?..?..

Mix the dropping in it, pick the droppings up, take a rake and scoop the top layer, rake the poop and just let the dropping go wherever?

Another words...chicken rune with sand?

What so u do?

Also, iw it necessary to put pea gravel down first then sand, or just throw that Sand in there

And..and..and..

What do you do with the sand..once a ton of snow has fallen..when the snow melts..is the sand mush, swamp land..or what?

Rain pounding on it..in winter, spring.

Just would like to know if I add sand , after the chickens eat all the grass in their new run..how do I maintain it?

 

[BooBear]

Snow is rare where I live so no worries of frozen ground.
I clean up the poop using a large hand held strainer. (Was using a cat poop scooper but it was not getting all of the poop)
Once a week I sprinkle DE under the main roost area and around the perimeter as a preventative, deoderizer.

So far it has been really easy to keep clean and you hardly notice that chickens live in it.

The coop has a roof so no worries of the sand getting wet.

 

[Spudd dud]

I may be a little to "farm boy" but you clean up the sand?

I built my run in the woods and let the birds go nuts, it use to have leaves and grass and weeds. Now there's just a some small trees and clumps of grass clippings that I throw over the fence (they love it).

1. I quess if you want to keep it clean a fine tooth poop scooper would work well enough - make sure you put that in your compost though.

2. Just put the sand down - no gravel, they WILL dig that up. I've found everything from an old tarp to inhailer cartrages!

3. To maintain - wash off the coop every once in a while, keeping the sand in the run might require a solid piece of steel or wood around the perimeter of the run (helps with critters as well).

Hope this helps!

Spudd dud

 

[B'villechicken]

I don't clean my run either. I use a 12" deep layer of a mix of sand & gravel that they sell here in Upstate New York as driveway mix. When the hens pack it down with their feet so that it gets a crust on it and doesn't drain, I use a small elecrtic tiller (similar to a Mantis) to till it all up and refresh the top. So far it has worked well. If it becomes too clogged, I will take the tractor and remove it and replace it with new.

David

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

In the baby run, since its a small run area, I will go in once a week or every 2 weeks with a kitty scoop and scoop out the poo. The other runs I don't do anything too, other than add more sand every spring. During the winter when the ground freezes, the poop will just freeze on top of the sand and make a layer. I just put gloves on and go pick up that layer and lay new sand down.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I think it helps to have a covered run, or at least partially covered, if you can swing it. I have coarse construction sand on the dirt. They do scratch down to the dirt. I use a lawn rake, one with close tines (the cheapie one) and just drag it lightly over the top to rake up the poo. I do this every day or so. Now, I don't think that's too much work. I only get a couple of shovels full and very little of the sand. I add 1/2 yard when I need to. I enjoy being with my chickens, I keep them locked up so I feel it's my obligation to keep their pen clean since they can't get away from it, and it gives me a chance to check them all visually while I'm in there. My run is on a slope so I have rain gutters on the back of the building and it's trenched behind it to channel the run-off away from the building. It stays relatively dry in there. We just got some snow and some did blow in from the front as shown in the pic. This pic shows some grass hay down on the ground. I have horses so every once in a while I'll throw a pile of it in the run to entertain the chickens. They love it and spread it everywhere!

 

[columbiacritter]

I don't clean my runs. I put at least yards of sand into my main run every year and it just disappears into the ground. In the fall I use a flat shovel and take out several wheel barrow loads of soil out of the run to put down in the flower beds. My main run is very large and holds my LF flock as well as 6 laying ducks. the bantamruns don't get cleaned either, we just add more sand or pea gravel to any swampy spots that form.

 

[wannabchick]

Thanks so much everyone

Xoxox

 

[welasharon]

I don't clean mine either....I do wonder though just where does it go???I hope it never comes back...
sharon

 

[chellejeff]

I might have missed something. Is your sand in the house, or the run. I switched to sand in the house a few months ago after having had wood shavings. The sand is way easier. My house is 10' x 7' inside and I put in about 3" of sand. I use a kitty litter scooper a few minutes each day and it stays very clean. Most of the poop is on the poop board anyways. The sand won't freeze if it's not wet. Anything will freeze if it's wet. My hen house has been into the 20's a few times and I've had no problems with the sand. Had poops frozen to the poop board though. My hen house if fully enclosed, so it does not rain or snow in the house.