Switched to sand, but...

[ChattyChickens4Life]

I think it will be warm enough. My sand is cold when wet, but maintains a good temperature one dry. I wouldn't worry. But some precautionary measures wouldn't hurt.

 

[TalkALittle]

Yes, you might need to add some water periodically. We had a pretty dry summer so I just hosed down my whole run the other day. It's the second time this year. I let the hose run on it until there were puddles on the surface of the litter. Stirred it a bit and 2" down it was still dry so I hosed it down some more.

 

[aart]

As for the run, I dug the sand into the underlying dirt, and have started a semi-deep litter system (I say semi because it really isn't very deep).

This will work fine to decompose the poops, might not make the delicious 'Deep Litter' micro climate teeming with organisms...but it's good start, just keep adding good mix of browns and keep any eye out for anaerobic packing.

Do I need to be periodically adding a bit of moisture to the litter, or just leave it, other than adding more brown material on top as needed?

You could if needed, have read of folks doing so....oops, TAL already answered, didn't read all the posts before responding.

 

[Jonessa]

This will work fine to decompose the poops, might not make the delicious 'Deep Litter' micro climate teeming with organisms...but it's good start, just keep adding good mix of browns and keep any eye out for anaerobic packing.

You could if needed, have read of folks doing so....oops, TAL already answered, didn't read all the posts before responding.

Thanks for your input! So what do I need to do differently to make the the "delicious 'deep litter' micro climate teeming with organisms"? (love that description!) Is it just depth that is lacking?
The level is currently as high as it can go without starting to go up against the hardware cloth.

 

[aart]

Thanks for your input! So what do I need to do differently to make the the "delicious 'deep litter' micro climate teeming with organisms"? (love that description!) Is it just depth that is lacking?
The level is currently as high as it can go without starting to go up against the hardware cloth.

Just keep getting it deeper, it's really got to be about a foot deep to support the micro and macro organisms, but you are limited there with your coop/run combo. Still just keeping a good browns balance should take care of the poops. You may have to do more management due to small size.

You can go against the HC.
I lined my run with HC so I could do deepish litter, but then I don't have wood at the bottom.
Had stinky sandy soil after the grass was gone, just adding some browns took care of the stink right away and I just keep adding to it.

Check out this guys set up.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/disposing-of-old-shavings.1201566/page-2#post-19035555

 

[Kellycbf]

Just keep adding stuff that fit the description of deep litter. It is oK to do it over time. Little by little.

 

[GldnValleyHens]

I considered sand, because our coop run gets really mucky and gross ( its just dirt'n'rocks) but after reading all this I guess not such a good idea. We have really cold winters too here in the upper midwest. I like the look of the leaves, totally gonna try that!

 

[black_dove2]

Chickens feet and legs will constricting veins to limit the amount of heat loss, thus they are able to walk on snow. They keep their internal heat up this way.

In the heat it's the opposite so more blood flows to the feet and legs to cool the blood and keep them from overheating in summer.

 

[jreardon1918]

We are relatively new to chickens. Our girls are just six months. 6 of 7 are laying. Just waiting for the Easter egger to join the club. Anyway, our coop is pine shavings. The coop has poop boards. I scoop them every two or three days. The poop boards are lined with PDZ. A little of that spills into the shavings on the floor. The scooped poops go in the compost next to the coop. The coop gets very little poop in the pine shavings. I did a full clean out two weeks ago and and added all of the pine shavings to the run. I really was wasting time and money as they were dry, relatively poop free and non smelly. Over the last 5 months, the run has transformed from a barren very hard dirt surface, to a nice soft blend of grass clippings, garden waste, leaves, pine needles and that load of pine shavings. No nasty smell. The only thing I will do to the run in the spring is use some of the compost for the gardens. One thing I have noticed, is as the run has transformed the chickens spend less time roosting (see my avatar) and more time scratching. The three pictures attached show a before and after of the run. So count me as somebody that likes pine shavings in the coop and a run of compost materials.

Posted edited to add a recent picture of the run.

 

[cstronks]

Great looking coop! My dealings with sand have been mixed in the coop. You very much have to treat it like cat litter since it can get pretty messy. Sand in the run also needs to be covered in my experience. After about a year of a sand run in my first coop I found it to be unbearable. My hens had turned it into a sort of sledge and I opted to shovel it out and return to a dirt/hay mix (with leaves mixed in during the fall months). The birds really took to the dirt better, although they didn't mind the sand.

As for the winter, your birds should fair well with sand or shavings. Yes, shavings will stay warmer, however they do create a good amount of moisture which can cause serious issues within the coop. Sand is drier, but has some downfalls. I would suggest you stay with sand in the coop, but keep on top of it to avoid a major mess. As for nesting boxes, I've always done a combination of shavings and hay. The birds appreciate this and I feel it is much more "homey" than sand. My birds love building nests. Every time there is fresh hay my birds jump in and create a great nest to lay in.

Hope this info helps! You learn by trying things, so stick with sand for a bit and see how it works out.

**Last note - sand is pretty heavy. I see your coop is elevated, so that is something to think about. You'll want to watch the amount of sand in there (ideally you want two inches) but do what you feel is best!