Looking for advice on sand maintenance, in our covered run on concrete.

[cknkids]

We have loved the sand on concrete in our run for the last 14 months; it’s now time for some maintenance. What do most of you do when the sand starts stinking? Do we add sand on top of the old stinky sand or remove & replace it? If we remove the sand what do we do with it? I hate the idea moving the odor to another area of our yard, but hate the idea of putting it out in the trash? We live on about a ¼ acre which is a very large lot for the suburb we live in.

These are our first chickens; they’re almost 18 months old and going through their first molt. Our run is about 7’ x 10’. The sand has been in it for about 14 months. The intent was to scoop the poop weekly; it’s probably been more like every 2-3 weeks. I expect we haven’t been doing all the necessary maintenance to head off the stink. Advice, Please!

 

[applecore]

Not sure what you should do, but the coop is adorable. I love the color!

 

[jetdog]

I use a cat litter scoop but I clean it once a week usually a Saturday project, I scoop all visible poop first then I use a metal loan rake to bring all the scratched in poop to the surface and remove it. At the end I sprinkle DESIGN all around,the girls are horrified when I do this, then I lightly rake it around and then put a little more as a top coat, done with no smell. If your run gets wet try hanging plastic or something to keep the moisture out, I made a panel with a clear shower curtain.

 

[aart]

I use a cat litter scoop but I clean it once a week usually a Saturday project, I scoop all visible poop first then I use a metal loan rake to bring all the scratched in poop to the surface and remove it. At the end I sprinkle DESIGN all around,the girls are horrified when I do this, then I lightly rake it around and then put a little more as a top coat, done with no smell. If your run gets wet try hanging plastic or something to keep the moisture out, I made a panel with a clear shower curtain.

What is DESIGN?

 

[jetdog]

**** auto correct I meant DE.

 

[c2chicks]

Our run is uncovered, so the rain etc helps to decompose a lot of the poop--it just washes away. Since you're on concrete, you have a different issue. I don't use DE for odor. For stink, you want to use Sweet PDZ. There are many threads here on BYC regarding it's safety and effectiveness. I think if your run is really bad, you could take out some of your sand and just "fling it" around your yard. The sand will be really good for the dirt and will quickly disappear into your grass. If you don't want to do that, a bag of Sweet PDZ will do wonders. I would dump it all in then rake it around. I would also try to scoop the poop a little more often and use a cup or two of Sweet PDZ every week or so, depending on your weather. Your coop/run is just beautiful!

 

[cknkids]

Thank you for the advice we'll clean it up and at the DE, we've been adding it to the shaving in the hen house all along, didn't realize we should have added it to the sand. If that's not enough well try the sweet PDZ.

 

[aart]

PDZ will do much more than DE to neutralize odors.