I plan to put my 25'x25' run where a 30' pool once sat. It is leveled clay with a few inches of sand on top. It drains fairly well but the sand stays moist and has a couple small puddles for a few days after a heavy rain, at least with lower temps in the 50's and 60's, may dry faster as summer temps arrive. Chickens will be free range on my 2 acres most days but will at times be in the run for hours of the day. So is sand fine or should I add a top coat of mulch or straw ? -Thanks
Sand in chicken run ?
- Thread starter kyron4
- Start date
We're do you live? I wouldnt be able to do that where I am due to rainy season causing flooding in winter and in summer the sand would get waaay to hot! Could you plant some hardy plants to help out drainage issue and keep sand from becoming to warm? I Will say sand is amazing for dust bathing, there's a old sand box under our pine tree that our girls literally go to war over
My buddy has uses sand in his run for yrs. He likes it over wood chips. My area doesn't drain as well as his, so I plan on using wood chips. This is my first coop/run, so I'm going by trial and error.
Might depend on your goals, but for basic odor control, wood chips are the way to go.
My runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
My runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
Add enough sand to build it up about 6 inches, then put about the same, or more if needed, in fill dirt on top of the sand.
We all have different situations, what works for one doesn't work for all. My suggestion is to try it as it is and see what happens. You may not have any serious issues, time will tell. Why fix it if it isn't broken, you might break it and have to spend a lot of effort to get back to square one.
The clay underneath is impervious water will not drain through it rapidly. Sand drains really well as long as the water has a place to drain to. I think you know that from your post. What I would expect to happen is that the chickens will dig holes through the sand into the clay for their dust baths. When it rains those holes will become mud puddles. That happens in my run, to me it's not a huge issue. If the entire run were a sloppy muddy mess it would be a problem.
Over time that sand will probably disappear into the clay. Their scratching will accelerate that process. At some point you will most likely need to add more sand even if it works now. Whether that is later this year or a few years from now, who knows. With them free ranging a good part of the day this might be a slow process.
It is possible you will need to do something but hopefully not. Good luck!
The clay underneath is impervious water will not drain through it rapidly. Sand drains really well as long as the water has a place to drain to. I think you know that from your post. What I would expect to happen is that the chickens will dig holes through the sand into the clay for their dust baths. When it rains those holes will become mud puddles. That happens in my run, to me it's not a huge issue. If the entire run were a sloppy muddy mess it would be a problem.
Over time that sand will probably disappear into the clay. Their scratching will accelerate that process. At some point you will most likely need to add more sand even if it works now. Whether that is later this year or a few years from now, who knows. With them free ranging a good part of the day this might be a slow process.
It is possible you will need to do something but hopefully not. Good luck!
@aart , clay will turn into concrete when is gets wet and worked, whether there is sand in it or not. Clay will turn into concrete whether you put straw in it or not. The best soil to grow crops in is loam, a mixture of sand, clay, and organic material. If you get the proportions right it is very friable. That means it has a good texture. It can still form a bit of a crust or set up some when it gets wet but nothing as bad as pure clay.
Adobe brick makers put straw of other fibrous material in the clay because clay tends to shrink and crack when it dries. The straw or other fibrous materials help keep it from cracking Adobe brick is sun-dried.
Brick makers and potters put sand in bricks because by itself the clay shrinks when it dries. They add enough sand so the bricks keep their shape when they go into the kiln to dry so you get uniform bricks. The clay turns hard because the kiln gets hot enough to melt the minerals in the clay. That's one reason most brick are red, iron melts at a lower temperature than most other common minerals so it is more economical to heat the clay hot enough to melt iron than some other minerals that would color the brick a different color.
The reason clay sets up so hard is the electrical attraction on the molecular level. Clay is very active at that molecular level, sand is inert. That's what sand does not set up hard, You can pour a bucket of wet sand, try that with wet clay that's had some time to set up. The size of the particles has something to do with it. Clay particles are tiny compared to sand particles so the clay can fill in the voids. My run or garden does not get hot enough to melt the minerals in the clay, it's the molecular attractions between clay particles that cause it to set up so hard when I work it when it is wet, or the chickens work it.
Do some research. Don't take my word for anything, I'm just someone on the internet. I don't know any brick makers but I do know a couple of potters, one a true artist and the other very knowledgeable of the basics. Research online was a bit challenging, I'm probably not setting up the searches right. I took soils mechanics in college many decades ago so while it's been a while I do understand the basics on a molecular level. I spoke to one extension agent that was "Oh!! Sand in clay!! Oh!! Oh!!" Another one said the best ratio for a garden soil is 2 part sand, 1 part clay, and a lot of organic material (compost). I need to add more clay and more compost to my raised beds, they drain too well.
Adobe brick makers put straw of other fibrous material in the clay because clay tends to shrink and crack when it dries. The straw or other fibrous materials help keep it from cracking Adobe brick is sun-dried.
Brick makers and potters put sand in bricks because by itself the clay shrinks when it dries. They add enough sand so the bricks keep their shape when they go into the kiln to dry so you get uniform bricks. The clay turns hard because the kiln gets hot enough to melt the minerals in the clay. That's one reason most brick are red, iron melts at a lower temperature than most other common minerals so it is more economical to heat the clay hot enough to melt iron than some other minerals that would color the brick a different color.
The reason clay sets up so hard is the electrical attraction on the molecular level. Clay is very active at that molecular level, sand is inert. That's what sand does not set up hard, You can pour a bucket of wet sand, try that with wet clay that's had some time to set up. The size of the particles has something to do with it. Clay particles are tiny compared to sand particles so the clay can fill in the voids. My run or garden does not get hot enough to melt the minerals in the clay, it's the molecular attractions between clay particles that cause it to set up so hard when I work it when it is wet, or the chickens work it.
Do some research. Don't take my word for anything, I'm just someone on the internet. I don't know any brick makers but I do know a couple of potters, one a true artist and the other very knowledgeable of the basics. Research online was a bit challenging, I'm probably not setting up the searches right. I took soils mechanics in college many decades ago so while it's been a while I do understand the basics on a molecular level. I spoke to one extension agent that was "Oh!! Sand in clay!! Oh!! Oh!!" Another one said the best ratio for a garden soil is 2 part sand, 1 part clay, and a lot of organic material (compost). I need to add more clay and more compost to my raised beds, they drain too well.
My comment was rather tongue in cheek...
...thus the apostrophes around 'concrete', and the wink
Bcampo
Chirping
Art- can you recommend the best type of wood for the ramial wood chips to use for the run?Might depend on your goals, but for basic odor control, wood chips are the way to go.
My runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
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