Sand Sifters can I see pics??

[lhayes1976]

Would love to see pics of what you guys use to sift the sand in your runs and coops.

 

[welasharon]

You mean to get the poop? I don't touch it. It just goes away....I don't know where it goes...but it goes there.
sharon

 

[Oghdoff]

Quote:

 

[kichohana]

I also don't "sift" the poo that accumulates in my sand filled run. It somehow doesn't accumulate! The poo in my dirt run I have to rake out and remove with a shovel. I originally bought an enormous sized kitty-litter scoop @ my local dollar store to sift out the poo, but it seems to just break down and disappear into the sand. Wish I could fill my dirt run with sand too so I wouldn't have to rake and shovel poo!

 

[lhayes1976]

You're right about the poo, I don't really see any of that, mostly just leftover weeds and scraps that they wouldn't eat. I guess a raking would probably clean that up. But what about the coop--do you all sift that?

 

[welasharon]

Ah, I live in Florida...don't have a coop. Mine is an open air pen. One solid wall on the back with a piece on one side. Whole thing is covered and sand on the bottom.
sharon

 

[kichohana]

I have pine shavings in my coop. I do not sift this either. Most of their poo is on the droppings board under their roost, so I do have to scrape this clean every few days. The shavings stay pretty clean. It's been about a year and i've added shavings to the original layer. There is no smell at all - even after a year! I occasionally sprinkle in some Sweet-Pdz or some D.E. on top of the shavings and the sand in the run - they scratch it in with their velociraptor-like talons. I suppose it's time for a shavings cleanout and replacement - but it always seems like there's something in the wheelbarrow that needs to be emptied.

 

[kcfuerst]

You can see a picture of my "chicken sifter" on my BYC page.

In my coop I have wood shavings. I with the other guy who said I don't know where it goes, it just goes there. Turns into dirt.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

In my juvenile pen I put down white play sand to help keep the poop as dry as possible. I don't have a picture, but I took a large dust pan from the dollar store and cut out the center, then glued 1/4 inch hardware cloth over the cutout. Works great!! You can also use the mesh colanders, but they are more difficult to use.

Ultimately, I decided to change them over to shavings because cleaning the 4X8 pen just took too long.

 

[lhayes1976]

Quote:
What a clever idea.

Off to the Dollar Store I go.