Im not finding sand under the roost as easy as I've heard!!

[nuttyredhead]

I thought it was going to be easier! They way people talked about the poop drying nicely and being so eay to scoop...what am i not getting? Ill admit i dont scoop it every day, but twice a week. So why is it like shoveling sand instead of sifting poop????

 

[darkmatter]

No one will ever convince me to use dropping boards, sand, or anything else. I have the sub-ground level dirt floor with a deep litter composting pit----I only clean it out once a year for fertilizer for the garden. It never smells anything other then a "earthy" compost/dirt smell, never that nasty ammonia stench. (See my BYC page for pics of my setup)

 

[paintedChix]

This is an old thread. A lot of the folks are no longer on BYC. You'd be better to start your own thread.

**********

I am in the sandhills of NC & I can not stand sand. Parts of our runs are not covered so sand gets wet & stays wet until a drought period. STINKY!! Our coops & runs are open air, CP hoop coops. They sit on the ground.

For us, we didn't remove the sand, but once all grass is gone, we use DLM. Added leaves, pinestraw, hay, straw, woodchips, shredded paper/cardboard, veggie scraps & leftovers from fridge... they dig, turn it over & the DLM "digests" the chicken poop. No smell & very few to no flies.

After the 1st 6 months, we move the top layer over & can remove down to or including some sand to add to garden beds or spread over our pastures to change (fenced pasture that is cleared is 7 acres of sand, about 3 acres of infra-structure & 11 acres of pine, scrub oak & thorny vines) the sand to good soil. That top layer that was moved is spread into areas that compost was removed. Then bags of materials dumped. Chickens move it... and repeat.

DLM

 

[flowerchicks]

We use a rake to get all the poop in one pile, then scoop it with a litter box scoop, and we only do it once a week. Works great for us. When the sand gets low, we just add more.

 

[MyShunshyn]

We have sand in our coop and I LOVE it. I clean it every morning. I used to use a litter scoop but my hubby made a larger "sifter" for me using a stall rake and some hardware cloth, it is AWESOME. Entire coop clean in 5 minutes. I dont have a photo of the sifter but if you need to see it I will try to get one posted. I also add some DE every week or so, it helps to dry out the poop and keep everyone bug free.
I have Fibromyalgia so I need to make things as easy as possible and this is working great for me and my girls.
Don't give up on the sand, i think it is a much better solution than shoveling a bunch of nasty shavings.

 

[2hot2chicken]

That is weird that it is clumping like that for you. It sounds like there might be a lot of moisture in that area?
I put sand in my run this summer and then within a couple weeks I had to change my coop to. I use kitty scoop to spot scoop any bad areas every day or so and once a week or so (2 if im really lazy) I use a leaf rake and kitty scoop and give it a real clean! I had some problems at 1st with a lot of large packed clumps because when we put the sand in the coop it got damp from rain and we put it on top of plastic. There was nowhere for the excess moisture to go but to clump on the bottom. It took me a few weeks and a heat lamp to get it completly dry all the way through. I just had to keep at it and keep sifting with kitty scoop all the way to the bottom layer every day for a while.

Yours should get better to, just be patient and give it a little more time.
Also, what type of sand are you using? I got mason sand because its really fine and they love dusting in it, but that could affect its clumping ability to.....

 

[teach1rusl]

You're welcome to come over to the dropping board side any time...LOL.

Quick and easy - and no shoveling of sand...hehee.

 

[Magic Birdie]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Am I missing something?

 

[TN_BIRD]

The sand in my run will clump, especially after it rains.

In the hen house, its nice n dry so the poop scooping is pretty easy. I've recently started laying some newspaper under the roost to simplify things even more.

 

[nuttyredhead]

Quote:
Ok so this is my roost area..how would i do a dropping board in there?

(before the chickens were added!)