I am new to all of this (don't even have my chicks yet). I am designing a coop with a covered outside run on dirt. I am assuming chickens poop anywhere and everywhere. Will I need to clean the poop off the dirt? Does the poop smell? Is placing a layer of sand or any covering recommended? I will be trying the deep litter method inside the covered part of the coop, and I think I have a good understanding of that. I'm just not sure about the outside part. We will have 3-4 chickens in about a 40 square foot run. Thanks for helping a clueless newbie!
I rake mine about once a week. Works for me and them. And yes, the poop smells. For us, mostly when it rains.
I completely filled my run with about 7 inches of sand, which packed to about 5 or 6 inches. I love it, LOVE it. Stays clean and dry, doesn't stink, I anticipated maybe raking it and one year later haven't even done that. Now I only have 8 chickens, so I imagine more chickens would require raking, but I HIGHLY recommend sand. When the yard around my run is wet and muddy in the Spring, or during heavy rains, my run is nice and dry.
I have just added sand to my newly built coop run and HOPE from what I read that this is low maintenance - I bought a little cat litter scoop to clean anything that doesn't dissolve into the sand. Hoping the advice here for sand was solid advice. Good luck with yours (from another newbie!!)
I also have sand in my run AND in my coop. I LOVE IT. I purchased a looong litter scoop (42") called "The Goliath" and it works great for the coop. I scoop it out about every 2 days. My run is 216 sq ft and all sand. When it rains, there are no puddles or mud and it dries quickly. I also use Sweet PDZ and DE in the coop and run to help keep everything dry and smell free. The DE also helps with pesty bugs
Thanks for the responses! I was wondering about using DE. I will have it on hand for the DLM, so may as well sprinkle it in the sand too, right?
