Sand questions, for run floor

[itsmechrissy]

Quote:
That would be a DUMP truck load, which is close to the price you paid, or less

Phew!!! Glad to hear you got a deal.. I was worried you'd gotten ripped off!

 

[weeders n feeders]

My setup is a combo of everything. I live on the south east coast so heat and humidity are my biggest concerns. My coop is a raised wood frame with hardware cloth on all sides top and bottom and a raised roof. On the inside bottom I have landscape cloth to hold the sand. Love it. Easy to clean with littler scoop. Stays dry, if rain does blow in it drains right through. Under the coop and in front of it to the gate is sand also. This gives us humans a "clean" area to walk. I dug down a little before putting it down to give a "clean " dirt base. Put in a layer of gravel and then about 2 -3 inches of sand. Chickens have scratched enough in it now to have brought some of the gravel to the top. It drains well and stays clean for the most part because they don't poop in this area. Their food is under the coop and the water just to the side. The rest of the run dirt, at least that's the base. This is where all kitchen scraps go and grass and weeds. If a scrap manages to stay long enough to draw flies then it gets moved to the compost pile. In the fall I'll layer this with chopped leaves so the chickens can help with the composting. I generally get more leaves than my compost pile can handle and the chickens will keep their run turned constantly so they'll break down pretty quick and with their additions i'll have rich dirt in no time. They also have a second run area in the blueberry patch which is also thickly mulched with leaves. (yea we have lots of trees). They love digging down in these and have little nests and dust holes all over.
I got my sand free from craigs list- left over from a construction project (even picked them up as as an egg customer). It was mixed with gravel and unfortunately other construction debri such as nails and screws and such but it quickly sifted through a screen mesh and I could pick out the bad stuff from the gravel left on the screen. When it free you don't complain much.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Do you think I need to completely clean out the alfalfa hay or could I put the sand right on top of it?

I'd get it out since it will mat down if it gets wet​