Sand in chicken run ?

[aart]

Art- can you recommend the best type of wood for the ramial wood chips to use for the run?

Not really sure if any one would be better than others.
A mix of hard and soft woods would be fine.

No poison ivy/oak.... and/or lunch materials would be good.
(Had a bunch of non-organic stuff in one load.)

Best to let it age a bit before piling it into the run to avoid toxic mold blooms.

 

[newshound]

It rains all the time here. Straw gets stinky. Now my ground is squishy and I am thinking of adding sand on top, thinking it will be easier on my hens and ducks feet. I am tired of the mud, straw helps for a time but smells when wet all the time. Sand should clean my hens feet when they are muddy from free ranging. Does anyone here doa thicklayer of sand? Do the droppings sink in?

 

[aart]

It rains all the time here. Straw gets stinky. Now my ground is squishy and I am thinking of adding sand on top, thinking it will be easier on my hens and ducks feet. I am tired of the mud, straw helps for a time but smells when wet all the time. Sand should clean my hens feet when they are muddy from free ranging. Does anyone here doa thicklayer of sand? Do the droppings sink in?

Poopy sand and lots of rain equals big stink IME.

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.

 

[jreardon1918]

Have you considered a sort of raised run. Like a raised bed garden. You have a base of clay. Now add wood chips, grass clippings, yard waste, kitchen scraps. And don't forget a roof. In time it should develop into a non muddy place where the chicks can scratch find a few bugs, worms.

I should add... i suppose a raised covered run could also be filled with sand. But then you got to scoop. Not a fan. But plenty of folks here are pro sand. So as i often say. YMMV.