Question about using sand for the floor of the run

[DawnSuiter]

Some things you just have to wait and see.

If it does run toward your hen house it could pile up and be a nuisance, but nothing you can just rake back again. If it's a problem, possible solutions could be to adjust the slope away from the hen house or around the side, etc.

Nothing is maintenance free really, we just need to try a couple things, and pick what works best and go with that.

 

[perchie.girl]

Another way to deal with a slight slope is to do a couple of terraces... Nothing major just maybe a chunk of pressure treated four by four to hold back the sand in steps.

 

[Chickangel79]

That's great thanks, will have to board the edges of the run first and see what I can do

 

[jrosto]

Might be a good idea to drill small weep holes through your bottom boards just above ground level to allow drainage.

 

[Chickangel79]

Quote:
Very good idea

 

[SydneyChick]

Philben - very excited to see your setup!
We have one of those exact coops for our three girls, and are in the process of trying to build a run to go with it.

Neither my husband or I are handy though - so we bought a 2m run off eBay and are going to setup run + coop next to an existing garden shed. The eBay run will provide a frame for us to work with, but we're going to extend the shed roof with colorbond and close the holes with galvanized mesh. So hopefully the girls will end up with a 2.8m x 2m covered run with a sand floor.

We're raising the coop/run on pine posts, boxing the bottom in with sun tuff Polycarbonate roofing (Just because it was the cheapest option next to arsenic treated pine sleepers.)

We'll fill the bottom with blue metal gravel and river sand. My only concern is that cleaning may be tricky because we will be limited to using the teeny doors that come with the coops for access....

We should have 30cm of "box" to hold the gravel & sand.

What does everyone think? Is this enough?