Sand on top of pavers?

[dawg53]

@aart I use two small shovels and two dust pans to scoop poop in the pens. One set for 3 pens and the shed coop, and one set for the carport pen.
A regular dust pan and whisk broom is used for cleaning out the carport pen coop and another raised coop in another pen.
I clean out all the coops and pens early each morning. It takes about 30 minutes taking my time and I always bring a cup of coffee with me lol.
Of course it takes longer when I have to clean and refill waterers. That's 5 three gallon waterers every 3 days in the spring, summer and fall, maybe 4 days in winter. I refill feeders as needed.
The poop is deposited in buckets, then I either carry the bucket or haul it in a wagon and dump it on a tarp. Once the tarp is filled, I shovel it into a yard cart and haul it with the lawn tractor onto the drain field and dump it out. Done.
Coops are cleaned once, the pens 3-4 times a day. I'm retired, I have the time. The sand doesnt get stinky even with a big pile of cecal poop. I wouldnt stick my nose in it though! LOL.
Here's some pics, including the tarp covered sand. I've already used about half of it.

 

[RebelChief]

@aart I use two small shovels and two dust pans to scoop poop in the pens. One set for 3 pens and the shed coop, and one set for the carport pen.
A regular dust pan and whisk broom is used for cleaning out the carport pen coop and another raised coop in another pen.
I clean out all the coops and pens early each morning. It takes about 30 minutes taking my time and I always bring a cup of coffee with me lol.
Of course it takes longer when I have to clean and refill waterers. That's 5 three gallon waterers every 3 days in the spring, summer and fall, maybe 4 days in winter. I refill feeders as needed.
The poop is deposited in buckets, then I either carry the bucket or haul it in a wagon and dump it on a tarp. Once the tarp is filled, I shovel it into a yard cart and haul it with the lawn tractor onto the drain field and dump it out. Done.
Coops are cleaned once, the pens 3-4 times a day. I'm retired, I have the time. The sand doesnt get stinky even with a big pile of cecal poop. I wouldnt stick my nose in it though! LOL.
Here's some pics, including the tarp covered sand. I've already used about half of it.
View attachment 2189883View attachment 2189890View attachment 2189900
View attachment 2189901View attachment 2189903

Thank you for your great post. I rake mine every evening and clean up the poop but the last few days the flies have been a NIGHTMARE. I just ordered some stable/coop spray for flies and hope that helps. I have NEVER seen this many flies. Crazzy amount of flies.

 

[Chickamams]

I just got something on amazon called a sand dipper cat scoop and it has a long pole so I don’t have to bend. Easy so far

 

[dawg53]

I just got something on amazon called a sand dipper cat scoop and it has a long pole so I don’t have to bend. Easy so far

I dont like bending over neither. Anything to make our work easier and less time consuming.

 

[aart]

Great post @dawg53 , thanks for all the details and pics!
Man, that's more work than I'd want to do, I'm retired too.

the pens 3-4 times a day.

Ah, so you're getting every bit of it with the shovel, rather than sifting where bits can get thru.

 

[dawg53]

Great post @dawg53 , thanks for all the details and pics!
Man, that's more work than I'd want to do, I'm retired too.


Ah, so you're getting every bit of it with the shovel, rather than sifting where bits can get thru.

Chickens constantly peck the ground. Guess what they're picking up and swallowing if you dont get ALL the poop picked up lol.
It's not alot of work really, 30 minutes max taking my time. I've done it in 15 minutes, no shortcuts. All the pens are fairly close to each other. Scooping poop in the pens alone takes 15 minutes, another 15 minutes for the coops. Coops are only cleaned once.
As far as shoveling and hauling the soiled sand over to the drain field, that's once a month and it takes a half day to complete. That includes putting clean sand in the carport pen.
It takes 2 hours to put clean sand in the other 3 smaller pens, easy work.
When I go fishing, I always leave very early before sunrise. When I get home I clean the fish first and put them in the freezer. Then go do chicken chores.

 

[dawg53]

Here's a few pics of the inside of the carport coop with sand on the floor. This coop isnt elevated but sets on 4x4's that are placed level on the ground and is 10'L x 4'W. This gives it adequate airflow under the coop. I installed 1/4" hardware cloth all around the base of the coop. It houses 12 standard size birds. The roosts are 2"x 2" with cross roosts giving more space for birds to perch.

A fan is placed at a center vent to blow air out, indirect airflow is sucked in through the other vents.
You never want direct air blowing on birds, especially at night. There's also a light rigged inside the rear of the coop if needed.

This is my first non elevated coop that I've ever built. I had rotator cuff surgery last October and am still recovering. I simply couldnt raise up my left arm and I'm left handed. My right hand/arm did all the grunt work, heavy lifting, sawing, drilling etc...it was time consuming.

I cut big swing open/close doors in order to clean the coop. I use a regular dust pan and whisk broom to clean out poop. The disadvantage is that I have to kneel just inside the coop to sweep the poop onto the dust pan. I wouldnt have to kneel if it were an elevated coop.
The advantage of this coop is that it is the easiest and quickest to clean and easiest to add sand.
I'm not a carpenter. I build my coops to withstand cat 1 hurricanes, maybe a low end cat 2. Anything greater than a 2, we're outta here including the chickens.
The coops and pens I've built over the years, I've never had one damaged or lost during a tropical storm or hurricane.
I lost a tarp during hurricane Matthew in 2016. It needed replacing anyway lol.

 

[aart]

Chickens constantly peck the ground. Guess what they're picking up and swallowing if you dont get ALL the poop picked up lol.

It's not that theres poop around and they might eat some,
it's that poop left behind in sand gets stinky.
Did it in a brooder, never again.
What you do with the sand is way more work than I want to do.

But this is great documentation of how to manage sand for those that want to use it,
ma saving link to share.

I sift the PDZ on poop boards daily, about 10 minutes, once a day.
Coop floor and run bedding never really get 'cleaned'.
Total change out once/twice a year in coop.
More chips/grass/etc added to run every once in while.

 

[dawg53]

I believe it's more of an environmental situation. It's hot and humid here most of the year. Some of the things you can do, cant be done here, and visa versa. The key here is keeping everything as dry as possible and sand is the best way to go for us.

 

[RebelChief]

I just got something on amazon called a sand dipper cat scoop and it has a long pole so I don’t have to bend. Easy so far

I ordered the same one last night.. too funny