Questions on run litter for blacktop

[Firechicken37]

Hello, first time poster here. My wife and I are getting a few chickens soon so we decided to build a coop. We have a blacktop pad behind our shed in the yard so I decided to build up from that. That way nothing is digging underneath. We have a lot of fox and a couple coyotes running around. My first idea was lining the bottom of the run with grass clippings. We've had the clippings in there for a few days as I built the run frame and it's rained a couple times. Now most of the grass clippings have the consistency of canned spinach. Would sand be a better option? I thought the clippings would be good because they would hold bugs and worms as they did piled up in the yard. The floor of the coop will be most likely wood shavings and dry.

 

[chynasparks]

My setup is on concrete. We didn't build in a floor. I have a mixture of playsand, alpurpose sand from Home Depot. Concrete and blacktop is hard on their feet and legs. I'm happy to say that the sand has made it much softer for when they land from perches. And to my surprise, they don't scratch down to the concrete. I've also mixed in DE and sweet PDZ. I have vertually no odor. I have also put playsand and PDZ in the poop board. I am very pleased v

 

[chickenfever417]

I would also go with sand. Clean and soft. I cant wait to make the switch!!!!!

 

[Firechicken37]

If I put the sand over the clippings would they just decompose into compost and mix with the sand? Or should I just get rid of the clippings and fill it with sand?

 

[chynasparks]

Keeping the coop clean and odor free is not hard. In my sitation I go in the coop and scoop with kitty litter scoop. I duct taped it to a longer handle. I bring in a step stool and just. Sit down and scoop all areas of the floor. I have a plastic bucket of course. It's fun to do because my chickens think its funny to run underneath me through the legs of the stool. I scoop the floor and poop board every other day, and more if there are left over greens at treats strewn about. After I give my girls some meal worms, pick them up and look them over. It may sound like a hassle but it really isn't. I can clean the floor in 30 minutes. As I relied earlier there is no odor. I must keep odor away because I live right smack behind our little police station/city hall. I would be so embarrassed if odor made its way there. I can actually do this less often but I'm in the coop daily anyway, so I try to do as much as needed at one time.

 

[chickenfever417]

If I put the sand over the clippings would they just decompose into compost and mix with the sand? Or should I just get rid of the clippings and fill it with sand?

I would take the clippings out...keep it just sand. It would be hard to scoop out with grass in it. You may need some sort of boarder around the run. Chickens love to scratch and they will send sand flying right out of the run. Does not have to be that high, maybe 5 or 6 inches??? I only bring that up because I have recently had the same issue now that my hens are getting bigger. I just used some old 6 foot privacy fencing that I tacked up along the bottom of my run...

Your coop is great by the way