Needing ideas and advice: Concrete floor and I already hate pine shavings

[aart]

The chickens had been playing with it and it caused a nipple to be on the drip position long enough to empty 5 gallons of water onto the sand under it.

OhMan!!

I did not need to shovel and haul the wet sand out. I merely stirred it up, aerated it so it could air dry. It was dry in two days in spite of the freezing cold. It did not freeze solid because my enclosed run stays ten degrees warmer than outside and the chickens kept it stirred up since they love digging in damp sand.

Yes, a heated coop in an arid climate would make drying out soaked sand, and using sand in the first place, a much more viable proposition....as well as the frequency of 'cleaning up' that you employ @azygous .

 

[hayley3]

The advantage of sand over dirt is it does dry out faster. The only way you're going to end up with soggy sand is if you have a major spill. That happened just a few weeks ago to me. The water tank nipples got hung up on the wool cover I place over the water heater blanket to keep the water from freezing. The chickens had been playing with it and it caused a nipple to be on the drip position long enough to empty 5 gallons of water onto the sand under it.

I did not need to shovel and haul the wet sand out. I merely stirred it up, aerated it so it could air dry. It was dry in two days in spite of the freezing cold. It did not freeze solid because my enclosed run stays ten degrees warmer than outside and the chickens kept it stirred up since they love digging in damp sand.

Unless the dirt you will be using is clay based, but a sandy loam, I don't see why it wouldn't work just as well as sand. I use a cat box scooper to pick up the poop. There's never been a odor or fly problem. However, no matter what bedding you select, shavings, sand or dirt, there's going to be dust. In summer, I do spray the sand with a fine mist to provide evaporation for cooling and it keeps the dust down. In winter, I just put up with the dust.

How much sand? How deep? And where do you get construction sand? We do have a quarry somewhat close, would they have it? Not sure they deliver.

 

[azygous]

Yes, construction sand is what I use, and it's cheap. All quarries deliver. You order sand by the yard. A half a yard will fill a light pickup truck. That's how I haul my sand home. It costs me $10 a small pickup load.

The yard fills my truck for me and then I need to off load it when I get home with it. Last time a friend offered to offload it for me because he wanted a workout for his shoulders. I didn't need the workout.

I have my sand about six inches deep. Measure your area you want to cover in sand and the gravel yard can help you estimate how many yards it will take. They will deliver it and dump it wherever you wish.

Most gravel yards also sell top soil if that's what you'd rather have. The closer the gravel and cement yard is, the cheaper it will be to deliver.

 

[hayley3]

Thanks...I will research some places when my internet is working better....I'm waiting for the internet to be installed and right now very few sites are loading. Thank goodness BYC is loading, although slowly.

I have a couple of issues I need to work out first, one being the garage door tracks.