Bet that doesn't help...we have been having like thunderstorms every other day...a few days of rain then a few day of sun...it really slows down the work we need to get done in the yard (putting up 900 ft of fencing, building a hay shed, building goat pens, and getting the quail set up...yikes, when writing it i realize i have a lot to do!) Mine was gross too.
I have never personally used sand, though i know of people who do and say it is great. I have used pine shavings, but they tended to get really soggy and i was spending too much on bedding costs...the wood chips are much better. If it is covered it would work good. Never tried roto-tilling either.... though i bet doing this before might help the lime or other stuff work into the ground.i think that the most important part of getting it better if it stinks and is really poopy is putting down lime (or DE or StallDry...don't use Hydrated lime, only Agricultural lime...the hydrated stuff will kill your birds and burn your skin) before putting down a bedding or substrate...that dries it out and combats bacteria and smell.
