Sand in run or no?

[Myoung2]

Hello! I am new to chicken keeping. I have sand in my coop and it has been working out well. However, I don’t have anything in my run. Just grass that’s starting to die. Do I have to put sand in my run or can I just leave it? Might be a silly question but I’m just not sure! Thanks in advance.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

You can put it in the run, though for the chickens scratching around, it might be helpful to them if they have a variety. Is the run muddy? Or is it just getting messy from them? Something I like to do, is I put leaves in my flock's run in the Fall, and that gives them something fun to scratch around in all the while helping keep the ground so it's not bare.

 

[dawg53]

I use sand in the pens, coops and most of the nest boxes. There's nothing worse than a muddy pen after it rains. Chickens love to drink from the nasty puddles. Sand in the pen(s) eliminates that problem. It dries quicker than mud, doesnt wash away like soil in deluge rains (think beach.) Sand deters insects. It's easier to scoop poop as well.

 

[The Birb King]

There's no grass in my run because they will just immediately eat it. So that just left dirt. When it rains dirt turns to mud so sometimes I will dump sand in so its not so muddy.