Sand litter users - this thread is for you

[jlwquilter]

I’m so glad the gravel rake helped you out!
I use a paint or spackle knife to quickly scrape any poop on the roost bars into the sand before I rake out.
In the nest boxes I now use (after trying many different ideas) empty feed bags (have a lot of those!) rough cut to size as a liner under straw. When I collect eggs I just pull on the liner to slide it forward, get the eggs, and slide it back. If it’s dirty I pull it out, put a new liner in (I usually cut several at a time out of one feed bag) with new straw and throw the dirty straw into the run and the dirty liner into the coop trash bag (which is also an empty feed bag).
I find this to be super fast and easy and cost effective.
I say ‘nest boxes’ but mine are really those big ugly plastic garbage cans laid on their side. If it happens to have wheels, the wheels can go face up/to the side or settled into the sand to stabilze it. I still line it with a rough cut to fit feed bag (get 2 out of one feed bag). It’s on the floor. It’s tall enough that hens can walk it, deep enough that it’s kinda dark and cozy in the back end where they lay, and it’s easy for me to grab the end of the liner and slid it out to collect the eggs and slide it back into place or replace the liner/straw when needed. It’s also easy to take the garbage can into the run and hose it out when needed, let it dry for a few hours and reset up for the next day.
I use broken garbage cans that I’ve had over the years (holes or cracks in the bottoms or sides, wheel broke, one handle ripped off, etc) or pick them up when people throw theirs out.
Oops! Got off topic there but I’ll leave it anyway

 

[TJAnonymous]

I use this in my nesting box, they are washable easy to keep clean and I do not have to use straw or shavings in my coop. I also use the sand similar to what you are saying only I keep a cardboard under the nesting roost and scrap it off each day and the sand and replace the cardboard every couple weeks. P 6 Pack Washable Nesting Box Pads MAT Bottom Chicken COOP Hen House Poultry NEST I get them from Amazon.com I cut and placed linoleum under neath of them to keep the wood clean and it is also washable. saves money and keeps the coop really clean and my girls love it. My coop is also 10x10 hope this helps. Thanks for sharing your information as well.

Your hens actually use these? Even with them being Spikey? I would be open to trying them.... Anything for cleaner eggs.... But if they are uncomfortable to walk on, I can see the girls refusing to use them....

 

[TJAnonymous]

I’m so glad the gravel rake helped you out!
I use a paint or spackle knife to quickly scrape any poop on the roost bars into the sand before I rake out.
In the nest boxes I now use (after trying many different ideas) empty feed bags (have a lot of those!) rough cut to size as a liner under straw. When I collect eggs I just pull on the liner to slide it forward, get the eggs, and slide it back. If it’s dirty I pull it out, put a new liner in (I usually cut several at a time out of one feed bag) with new straw and throw the dirty straw into the run and the dirty liner into the coop trash bag (which is also an empty feed bag).
I find this to be super fast and easy and cost effective.
I say ‘nest boxes’ but mine are really those big ugly plastic garbage cans laid on their side. If it happens to have wheels, the wheels can go face up/to the side or settled into the sand to stabilze it. I still line it with a rough cut to fit feed bag (get 2 out of one feed bag). It’s on the floor. It’s tall enough that hens can walk it, deep enough that it’s kinda dark and cozy in the back end where they lay, and it’s easy for me to grab the end of the liner and slid it out to collect the eggs and slide it back into place or replace the liner/straw when needed. It’s also easy to take the garbage can into the run and hose it out when needed, let it dry for a few hours and reset up for the next day.
I use broken garbage cans that I’ve had over the years (holes or cracks in the bottoms or sides, wheel broke, one handle ripped off, etc) or pick them up when people throw theirs out.
Oops! Got off topic there but I’ll leave it anyway

You are just full of useful ideas.... I might steal the feed bag and paint spackle ideas too....

 

[jlwquilter]

I’d like to take credit for the clever ideas but I think I got all of them from various posts here, chicken sites, etc. It all comes down to what works for you and your hens. I tried wood flakes from TSC in the boxes but my hens would kick it all out. Was a waste of money. They like straw best cause they can make a classic nest in it. I’ve used standard wood nest boxes but it was a disaster when a hen went broody in the favorite one and I wanted to have her hatch the eggs out. So I moved to dog crates - also easy to pick up for free - and that worked well until I needed the crates to transport hens. And when I had 50+ hens laying I didn’t want them crowding into whatever nest box was the favorite that day. The garbage cans are big enough that several hens can lay at once without mashing the eggs. Funny thing is that I had 2 cans for them and the egg number in each can was about equal every day.

Back to the sand... it does seem to keep their feet cleaner. The only time I have dirty eggs is when one gets broke in the nest for some reason.

Best of luck with your chickens!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I’d like to take credit for the clever ideas but I think I got all of them from various posts here, chicken sites, etc. It all comes down to what works for you and your hens. I tried wood flakes from TSC in the boxes but my hens would kick it all out. Was a waste of money. They like straw best cause they can make a classic nest in it. I’ve used standard wood nest boxes but it was a disaster when a hen went broody in the favorite one and I wanted to have her hatch the eggs out. So I moved to dog crates - also easy to pick up for free - and that worked well until I needed the crates to transport hens. And when I had 50+ hens laying I didn’t want them crowding into whatever nest box was the favorite that day. The garbage cans are big enough that several hens can lay at once without mashing the eggs. Funny thing is that I had 2 cans for them and the egg number in each can was about equal every day.

Back to the sand... it does seem to keep their feet cleaner. The only time I have dirty eggs is when one gets broke in the nest for some reason.

Best of luck with your chickens!

I have a few hens who prefer to sleep in the nesting boxes so naturally they also poop there during the night. Gross... I do try to clean the boxes out often. I go through a lot of straw as a result. It feels like a waste sometimes.

 

[jlwquilter]

Have you tried closing off access to the nest boxes in the afternoon or early evening so they simply can’t sleep in them? Of course that means opening them up in the morning. They can be pretty persistent so I don’t know how long you’d have to block them before they give up trying. I assume the boxes are lower than the roosts...?
Maybe if you close off the nest boxes completely and give them new temporary nest boxes - like a garbage can on the floor- they won’t want to sleep in it....?

 

[TJAnonymous]

Have you tried closing off access to the nest boxes in the afternoon or early evening so they simply can’t sleep in them? Of course that means opening them up in the morning. They can be pretty persistent so I don’t know how long you’d have to block them before they give up trying. I assume the boxes are lower than the roosts...?
Maybe if you close off the nest boxes completely and give them new temporary nest boxes - like a garbage can on the floor- they won’t want to sleep in it....?

Well, you see, I made a big mistake when I built my coop a year ago. I put in 3 levels of roosts (each about 6 ft long) and a ladder roost as well. There are 10 nesting boxes, each approximately 18 inches square - 5 ground level and another 5 on top. The mistake I made was not blocking off the roof trusses which are accessible from the ladder roost and one of the 6 ft roosts. This means a lot of my birds want to roost in the trusses since it is the highest point. That also means that those birds rain poop down everywhere over the center of the coop, including the 6 ft roost in front of the nesting boxes. I think the hens who sleep there do it to stay out of the raining poop from the birds in the rafters.

I REALLY want to make some minor changes in my coop to add in more roost space, along with poop boards and then block off the rafters so they can't go up there. It will mean a much cleaner coop and the poop boards will save me a ton of time!

Lesson lived and learned!

 

[jlwquilter]

Busy day!
I was wondering if you could block off access to the eaves/roof trusses by stapling/nailing/etc a covering of relatively cheap deer netting from wall to wall making the deer netting the new ‘ceiling’. It wouldn’t impact air flow, it’s really lightweight so easy to hang up, and you get a lot of netting for $16-$20 from Amazon or TSC. Other places carry it too. Once birds can’t get up there, they’ll have to roost on the roosts and maybe not force the lower ranked hens to hide in the nest boxes.
It could be an interim solution until you can make the modifications you want.
Anyway, it was a thought I had

 

[TJAnonymous]

Busy day!
I was wondering if you could block off access to the eaves/roof trusses by stapling/nailing/etc a covering of relatively cheap deer netting from wall to wall making the deer netting the new ‘ceiling’. It wouldn’t impact air flow, it’s really lightweight so easy to hang up, and you get a lot of netting for $16-$20 from Amazon or TSC. Other places carry it too. Once birds can’t get up there, they’ll have to roost on the roosts and maybe not force the lower ranked hens to hide in the nest boxes.
It could be an interim solution until you can make the modifications you want.
Anyway, it was a thought I had

I have some landscaping fabric that I'm going to use but if I block off that space then I need to add a bit more roost space to compensate.

 

[jlwquilter]

That would work. Only thing I'd be aware of is how something more solid like landscape fabric would potentially block/change airflow and ventilation if you have air moving through the roof.

Ah, it's always fix one thing and create another problem instead - LOL! How many chickens are in that coop? I don't recall if you said.