The stink of sand, and what to do with the yard

[Austinite]

Two issues here, but they're related. For reference, we have 3 hens.

• The "run": (8ft x 5ft) is attached to the henhouse and fully secure. They ONLY spend time locked in the run during the time it takes for us to wake up and let them into the yard for the whole day. We filled it with construction sand a year ago and it worked great through the summer - I sifted poop out using a metal sieve. But after a year of occasional rain, lots of compaction, etc, it has apparently become putrid. I was in there this morning trying to "turn it over" and was gagging. The sand has to be bacterific by now. Any way to sanitize it or do I have to basically throw the lot away and buy all new sand?
• The yard: No, I'm not complaining that they ate the ENTIRE backyard in a year. I didn't want grass to water anyway. BUT: the yard is now pure dirt/mud and is becoming an erosion issue. The option I'm strongly considering is hardwood mulch for the entire yard, fence to fence (we do have box veggie gardens that are netted, so no - we won't have a fully brown yard). Does mulch WORK for what we're wanting? Oh, and we have kids. We figured it *might* be better for the kids to run around on mulch than on the poopy dirt/mud? Does mulch "process" chicken poop any better than bare ground? With only 3 chickens would it require cleaning (somehow)? My wife thinks we'd end up having to buy all new mulch every year and would cost as much as the water we're saving not having a yard. Can't win...

Help!

 

[bubblesgigi]

i hope someone responds to your concern about sand, because i have sand in my run also and way more than 3 chickens

 

[warmseth]

I've heard you have to get rid of the sand and that one of the downsides of it is indeed its heavy weight when it comes to disposal. I've heard good things about mulch so long is it's not the type that's dyed orange as that is not good for the gals to be pecking at.

 

[BigRedNZ]

My run is open (no predators in urban NZ with dog safe backyard).

I keep our girls behind a fence ( they jump out at will) and have mulch (bark nuggets). These slowly rot down which seems to work well. In the winter I make it double thick for better water drainage. It even coped with an unusual 2ft snow. And the garden gets a few bails of pea straw the hens spread out for me.

This has worked so far. But you will need to add more bark every 6months or so as the birds seem to accelerate composting.

Hope that helps

 

[chfite]

If the sand stays damp, it may be because the area is too low to allow drainage. You could add hardwood mulch to increase the variety of material to reduce compaction. I would add sand to make it deeper, so it would drain better allowing the top level to be dry.

Covering the yard area with mulch is a good way to go. I have covered many square feet of yard with mulch, and have liked the results. No bare soil, drains well after a rain, decomposition improves the soil. After a few years, it will start to decompose necessitating adding to the mulch to make it back to the depth it was.

By and large, water problems are best solved by addressing the problem with the source of the water. If it pools, the pooling needs to be eliminated with raising the level or better drainage. If the runoff can be diverted elsewhere, that may help.

You have to take a hard look at your situation and go from there.

Chris