Those who have sand in the coop--how does that work?

[WalkingOnSunshine]

We have a coop with a linoleum-covered sub floor at the moment, but my husband says he bought the wrong subflooring and didn't clad the area between the floor and the walls well enough, so the floor is rotting out by the walls.

We're planning to jack the whole thing up, put in a treated footer to rest the walls on, and set the whole thing down on the ground. We'd have a dirt floor. I was considering filling the whole thing with 6" of sand; either that, or a layer of pounded rock dust with shavings on top. Sand seems like it would work well, since my dad beds his dairy cattle with sand and they love it, even in the winter.

What I'm unclear on, is how do you clean it? Currently we do a modified deep litter where I stir and dump more shavings on top, but do a full clean-out two or three times a year.

Photos of what it looks like would be helpful, if you have any--as well as opinions of sand vs. dirt vs. pounded rock dust (dirt and rock dust to have shavings used on top of them).

Thanks, all!

 

[chfite]

Sand 6" deep in the run would not require cleaning since the birds would turn it and the poop over when they go about their scratching. The poop would decompose in the sand.

If you put wood shavings on top of the sand, they would be turned over and over in the same manner, eventually being fragmented by the scratching and digging. It seems that wood shavings would serve little purpose in the run.

I don't know how this would work in the coop where they don't spend all that much time. I guess you could use a manure fork to get the shavings and poop out from time to time off of the bed of sand. It seems that it would be easier to clean a coop with wood shavings on the floor if the floor were a hard surface.

If there were some sort of method to catch the poop from the birds on the roosts, then cleaning the floor of the coop might be less of a chore.

Chris

 

[Spikes Chooks]

I use coarse river sand. Beach sand would have to much salt in it. There are rialway sleepers around the sides, stron wire mesh stapled across the ground to deter predatos tenh around 6-8" of sand. I ended up putting clear platsic roofing over the whole run, as it keeps it dry during heavy rain periods.

I have a small coop and run for 4 chickens - it onloy takes a few mkinutes each day to remove the poop with a kitty litter scooper.

The girls love dustbathing in the sand, it drains well, no smells and everyone is happy! I recally recommend it

 

[teach1rusl]

Most who use sand just do so in the run, not the housing. I'm not sure how deep litter would work with sand? Do you only use deep litter through winter, or year round? If year round, you may need to only do that through the winter months...just use the sand base through the warmer parts of the year. In the run, I use a rake to clean - but it has to be the right rake, with the right tine spacing - plastic tines work better than metal ones for me. Inside a coop, a small, narrow rake could work.

Rock dust - I've found that in my alpaca paddock, the rock dust packs so tight that liquid can eventually begin to pool, which I don't like (but sand is a big no-no w/alpacas). Plus, if it gets packed down, you won't be able to sift/rake it like with sand. So it really depends on how you want to maintain your base as to whether sand or rock dust would work better for you.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I don't have a run--we have a 75' x 125' pasture.

Maybe I wasn't clear the first time? I must have rambled, sorry, I'll try again.

Current situation:
Chicken house big enough for 90 birds.
Has a linoleum over subflooring floor. (Love, love, LOVE this for ease of clean out. I am sad to be losing this.

)
We currently bed with shavings, using a modified deep-litter method where we do a full clean out twice a year or as needed.
Because of improper outer cladding, the floor is starting to rot out.

What we're planning:
We're going to jack up the hen house, remove the floor, set the walls down on a treated wood footer.
It will have a dirt floor.
I was considering using sand instead of shavings IN THE HEN HOUSE.
I will not be using sand in the run, as I do not have a run. I have a large pasture.

Question:
How does using sand in the coop/hen house work for people?
How do you clean it, and how often?
What happens to it in the winter?
Do you have any pics of what it normally looks like (not just after cleaning)

Thanks!

I'm not sure how deep litter would work with sand? Do you only use deep litter through winter, or year round? If year round, you may need to only do that through the winter months...just use the sand base through the warmer parts of the year.

Rock dust - I've found that in my alpaca paddock, the rock dust packs so tight that liquid can eventually begin to pool, which I don't like (but sand is a big no-no w/alpacas). Plus, if it gets packed down, you won't be able to sift/rake it like with sand. So it really depends on how you want to maintain your base as to whether sand or rock dust would work better for you.

I use deep litter year round, but it's modified with a twice or more yearly clean-out. We have lots of large windows (see pic in my last post) and we get rain inside more often than I'd like. The rainwater means that the litter needs to be cleaned out more often than someone who does a true deep-litter method would do.

I was not planning to put any shavings on top of the sand if I went with a sand floor in the coop.

Thanks for the info on the rock dust. If I'm going to have the inconvenience of a dirt floor (what a pain when you have to shovel out shavings--I have a dirt floor goat stall and don't enjoy it) I want to make sure that at the very least it drains.

If I use rock dust, I think I'd pound it very tightly and bed with shavings over top, essentially treating it as a concrete pad and bedding with shavings over top as I do now.

 

[RedneckGurl]

There are several threads here on BYC that talk about the benefits of sand in both the coop and the run. I have a raised coop that we are currently in the final stages of building and a 25'x25' run that will both have sand in them. I think you will find that sand is a great flooring option, especially if your coop is going to be sitting on the ground. Sand drains well so no water retention issues unless the site is low lying and you have standing water to begin with...nothing would cure that except raising the coop up off the ground or relocating it to a higher point. Sand tends to dry out poop very quickly so you don't get odor or flies if you rake it daily. Adding some sweet PDZ or DE to the sand (I understand) helps even more with that. And, when I say rake it daily, it's not labor-intensive raking - just taking a small rake and skimming the surface of the sand to pile the dried poop up and then into something like an upright dustpan for tossing into a compost pile, etc. For smaller coops, like mine (8' x 8') you can use a large kitty litter scoop to pick up what little poop there is. My suggestion is to search the forum for the topic of sand and read all the threads. You can also check out The Chicken Chick's website. She is a strong advocate of using sand and talks about it on her blog. (www.the-chicken-chick.com)

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

There are several threads here on BYC that talk about the benefits of sand in both the coop and the run. I have a raised coop that we are currently in the final stages of building and a 25'x25' run that will both have sand in them. I think you will find that sand is a great flooring option, especially if your coop is going to be sitting on the ground. Sand drains well so no water retention issues unless the site is low lying and you have standing water to begin with...nothing would cure that except raising the coop up off the ground or relocating it to a higher point. Sand tends to dry out poop very quickly so you don't get odor or flies if you rake it daily. Adding some sweet PDZ or DE to the sand (I understand) helps even more with that. And, when I say rake it daily, it's not labor-intensive raking - just taking a small rake and skimming the surface of the sand to pile the dried poop up and then into something like an upright dustpan for tossing into a compost pile, etc. For smaller coops, like mine (8' x 8') you can use a large kitty litter scoop to pick up what little poop there is. My suggestion is to search the forum for the topic of sand and read all the threads. You can also check out The Chicken Chick's website. She is a strong advocate of using sand and talks about it on her blog. (www.the-chicken-chick.com)

Thank you, that's extremely helpful! I kept finding threads that talked about sand in the run, but nothing that told me about sand in the coop.

What is the sand like in the winter? I assume that it freezes solid if it gets wet in cold weather?

 

[RedneckGurl]

Quote:
I can't attest to that since (1) I don't have my coop and run up and going just yet and (2) I live in Alabama, and although it's north Alabama, it doesn't get cold enough here that I need to worry about it freezing like that. I did see a comment on another thread from someone who lives in the northeast and they said that any water that freezes on top can be broken up and removed and the sand, even though cold, doesn't freeze solid but can still be raked. If you are talking about inside, again, unless you've got some serious issues with standing water to begin with, I wouldn't think you'd need to worry about it freezing inside the coop. Water freezes from the top down so if you've got a lot of water, which you shouldn't inside, it will form a sort of ice cap and that can be broken and removed...the sand underneath would still be loose.

 

[NYcue]

I use sand in my coop but not the run. I live in upstate NY and it gets cold!!! I haven't had any issues with the sand in the winter. Never froze never a problem... For the most part... the girls sleep on the roost not the sand. I use contractor sand from Lowes. In the winter season I don't do anything with the sand. I have about 4 to 5 inches of sand. In the summer... I occasionally clean the sand like I would with a Cat Litter box. I replace the sand completely once a year. I had used wood chips in the past... Sand is so much better in the coop... in my opinion.

 

[IndigoChicken12]

NYcue, do you have a sort of deep bedding method with the sand?