Problems with sand in the run

sonomachx

In the Brooder
8 Years
May 4, 2011
48
2
32
I really liked the idea of sand in the run for ease of cleaning. Initially it worked great, but now after a few months I am having problems. The area that is now our run floor was initially gravel. We cleared most, but not all, of it out and poured about 6 inches of sand on top. At first all I had to do was rake the sand and then sift the poop out. Unfortunately, the pullets have been digging so much the sand is now filled with rocks. Every time I try to sift it to remove the poop I am mainly cleaning out rocks. What was once a 5 minute chore is becoming a time consuming PITA. To fix the problem, we are going to clear out the run again and then place a barrier down between the rocks and sand to keep them from mixing. My question is what would be the best barrier to use. Landscape fabric would be cheapest and easiest to handle, but would the girls just tear it up? Should I use hardware cloth instead?
 
I would like to know that too.
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I live in New England and there's not way that I could have a run without rocks in it! I have a packed dirt run that I add sand to it now and then to aid in drainage and to give them loose material to dust bathe in. I rake it weekly and it stays tidy and clean. I toss the big rocks to the edge of the fencing, which keeps them from dust bathing near the fence line, and eventually going under and out. You can see my set up on my live-streaming cams at www.HenCam.com. My hens have dug dust pits (deeper than holes!) so that you can't even see their heads. It's quite nice for them in this hot weather. So, if you do decide to put down landscape fabric, it's going to have to be far down.
Also, you might want to check out how I have a compost pile in the chicken run. It keeps the girls busy and it keeps the veggie scraps, etc, that I give them in one place. They quickly become shredded and turned into nice dirt.
http://hencam.com/faq/compost-in-the-chicken-run/
 
I live in New England and there's not way that I could have a run without rocks in it! I have a packed dirt run that I add sand to it now and then to aid in drainage and to give them loose material to dust bathe in. I rake it weekly and it stays tidy and clean. I toss the big rocks to the edge of the fencing, which keeps them from dust bathing near the fence line, and eventually going under and out. You can see my set up on my live-streaming cams at www.HenCam.com. My hens have dug dust pits (deeper than holes!) so that you can't even see their heads. It's quite nice for them in this hot weather. So, if you do decide to put down landscape fabric, it's going to have to be far down.
Also, you might want to check out how I have a compost pile in the chicken run. It keeps the girls busy and it keeps the veggie scraps, etc, that I give them in one place. They quickly become shredded and turned into nice dirt.
http://hencam.com/faq/compost-in-the-chicken-run/
I am also in New England and rocks ARE every where! I really love the compost pile in the chicken run, such a great idea!
 
I read on here recently that someone put puppy training pads in with their chicks, and they tore it apart and got it stuck in their mouths. I would worry that weed block or something like that would get eaten by the chickens and cause problems.
 
Weed block would be fine, but it will eventually be dug down to and ripped in places, at least based on my experience (never noticed anyone sampling any). Well...I should say that's what happened in my big girl run. It's still fine in my bantam run. Guess my big girls like digging to China... I just add more sand each year, and that seems to work just fine. Plus the rake I use for clean up has loose tines, so I can kind of sweep almost like a broom - you might look for something like that. My sand came with pea gravel mixed in (which I like), so the loose rake lets the pea gravel mostly be left behind...
 
I have just started using sand in my run and I put down a weed control fabric, its only been down for a few days but the girls haven't ripped it yet. I cleaned ot the poop using s kitty litter scoop and then raked the sand with a loose tyne rake of the sort you would use for leaves, this breaks it up and stops it from becoming too compacted, its working great so far
 
I put down 18" of gravel, topped by a layer of wire mesh and then a layer of landscape fabric. I topped it all off with 6" to 8" of sand. I have not had any problem with our hens getting into the landscape fabric. So far, I am really happy with the sand.

KJF
 

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