Run material rainy area, western Washington

[IvyBeans]

As the title says, I live in western Washington, where it rains most of the winter.

My run is basically my side yard, it’s long and narrow. Much bigger than it needs to be based on number of chickens I have. Since it has a wood fence on one side and house on the other, I don’t want to put solid roof the whole thing in or I worry it will be dark. There’s no neighbor on the other side of the fence. We don’t have a functioning HOA. It’s technically too close to the property line, but so is everyone else’s sheds and putting it here makes it as far as it can be from neighbors.

I also really can’t have smell and the cost of the coop has made it so my husband does not want to spend much more money.

Is sand going to be a problem in a rainy climate. There’s already gravel in the side yard, so it would be sand over gravel. Can I just throw in some PDZ?

Wood chips would be more expensive and I am more worried about smell and maintenance. I can’t wait for free chip drop. I can do it if it’s truly better.

I’m using wood pellets in the coop, I thought about doing them in the run, too, but it’s about 160 square feet and I’m not sure how well it would last and gets expensive

 

[aart]

There’s already gravel in the side yard, so it would be sand over gravel. Can I just throw in some PDZ?

Gravel will hold poops and it will stink, sand won't help....PDZ will not fix the odor.
Coarse wood chippings will reduce the odors by composting the poops.
If you have a place to store a dumpload of chips(you can't dump a thick load of chips in the run all at once without risking serious mold issues), try calling a tree trimming service yourself instead of chipdrop.

How's the drainage in the area, and pudding of rain water?
Pics of the area might help here.

 

[IvyBeans]

Gravel will hold poops and it will stink, sand won't help....PDZ will not fix the odor.
Coarse wood chippings will reduce the odors by composting the poops.
If you have a place to store a dumpload of chips(you can't dump a thick load of chips in the run all at once without risking serious mold issues), try calling a tree trimming service yourself instead of chipdrop.

How's the drainage in the area, and pudding of rain water?
Pics of the area might help here.

The drainage in that area is great. It’s high because of the gravel and in the higher part of the yard. I definitely want to cover the gravel with another material. I do plan on scooping if we do sand.

I don’t have anywhere to store wood chips.

 

[IvyBeans]

I am looking for the best solution, sorry if I sounded dismissive about the chips. I will use it if it’s best.

I guess I’m just hoping sand will work because everyone talks about how low maintenance it is if you scoop it.

I’m looking for low maintenance and smell reduction. I don’t have acres to separate from any smells for me and the neighbors. Or store material, or even much compost. It’s truly a backyard chicken project in a fairly small backyard. My whole yard is only 6000 square feet, but it’s long and skinny, so I have quite a bit of that as backyard.

I will make arrangements for what’s best though!

 

[aart]

I guess I’m just hoping sand will work because everyone talks about how low maintenance it is if you scoop it.

Scooping daily is a maintenance that some would rather not do.
I scoop poop boards(straight PDZ) daily but that's only ~20 sqft.
I used sand in a brooder once, it was not odor free.

 

[IvyBeans]

I don’t want to use it in the coop for that reason, and because I think it might get a bit cold in the winter. Which is why I’m using horse pellets.

Do wood chips really not smell? Even in a wet run?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would not recommend sand, you only get one season a year that it'll dry out, especially with an unroofed run. If you ever played in a freshly rained upon sandbox as a kid, remember how clumpy the sand could get? That's what 3/4ths of the year would look like for you.

Do wood chips really not smell? Even in a wet run?

So here's the scoop... yes and no. I used to have just dirt in the run, and it became a stinky mud pit. I now have deep litter and even if the run floods I still don't have odor issues - I've had visitors standing next to the run that don't even realize there's chickens living there (if the chickens are hiding somewhere) because they don't smell anything.

The "no" comes into play for the following reasons:
- Wood chips alone may not be enough to compost down the poop well. You really want a mix of organic materials of different types and sizes. Right now, dried grass clippings are my standard mix in. In the fall it's spent garden materials and dried leaves.
- Volume of litter matters too - too little litter to too many birds and you will still have odor issues. You said the run is 160 sq ft, how many birds?

 

[IvyBeans]

I would not recommend sand, you only get one season a year that it'll dry out, especially with an unroofed run. If you ever played in a freshly rained upon sandbox as a kid, remember how clumpy the sand could get? That's what 3/4ths of the year would look like for you.


So here's the scoop... yes and no. I used to have just dirt in the run, and it became a stinky mud pit. I now have deep litter and even if the run floods I still don't have odor issues - I've had visitors standing next to the run that don't even realize there's chickens living there (if the chickens are hiding somewhere) because they don't smell anything.

The "no" comes into play for the following reasons:
- Wood chips alone may not be enough to compost down the poop well. You really want a mix of organic materials of different types and sizes. Right now, dried grass clippings are my standard mix in. In the fall it's spent garden materials and dried leaves.
- Volume of litter matters too - too little litter to too many birds and you will still have odor issues. You said the run is 160 sq ft, how many birds?

4 for now, I can max out at 6 and plan to add 2 more in the spring.

 

[rosemarythyme]

4 for now, I can max out at 6 and plan to add 2 more in the spring.

That should be good for the space. Just plan on building up layers of litter over time to keep the composting process going. If I slack on adding wood chips for too long and the layers get too compacted, that's really the only time I start noticing odor problems.