Pea gravel or Sand for uncovered chicken run?

[dashfox]

I just called about having sand delivered for my uncovered chicken run (hardware cloth on top) and the guy told me that he has been delivering a lot of #78 pea gravel to people for their chickens. He said that people have told him that they simply hose it down and the poop drains making it very easy to maintain. Anyone have experience with this?

 

[Whittni]

I have the gravel in my run, it is easy to clean but I have sand too. The chickens love the sand to bathe in but the sand gets really dusty when you kick it around or during a windy while. I'd still got with sand, just because gravel makes more noise and the chickens probably don't like walking on rocks. Sand works great in a coop too, it works like cat litter.

 

[chfite]

I thought about gravel, but decided that it would be hard on the chickens' feet. No science there, just my thoughts. I put in 6 inches of river sand. It is a bit coarser than what you usually consider to be sand. It was cheaper by the yard than sand. I have been happy with the river sand.

The chickens turn the sand over all the time. The poop gets turned under and decomposes.

Chris