Trying to figure out the right cleaning cadence for sand run and coop

[charlotte-and-the-bees]

We have a small flock of pullets (5). Pine shavings in the coop that I scoop out daily (I have a poop board under the roost and this works well). I clean the stuck down poop off the roosts about once a week and add PDZ/DE on top of the shavings. I was cleaning it out fully every week but now I'm thinking every other week or more is fine with the daily surface cleaning + PDZ.

My big concern is our run which is coarse sand + some small rocks. The small rocks are making it super hard to spot and clean the poop, so I've been scooping where I can but thinking a lot of it is getting buried with the sand. Is this bad? Should I be sprinkling PDZ and DE in there are on a regular cadence as well? Probably will also get more sand to bury the rocks or eventually just be scooping all the rocks out with the poop, not sure at this point. I'm just worried about their health if they're living in old poop assuming I don't fully change out the sand for months.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would add bedding on top of the sand, add scratch to the bedding. The chickens will scratch and break it up. One or twice a year, I put the bedding on my garden for mulch.

Use your nose - if it smells, clean it, if not, don't worry. I have sand in my coop, I have never collected the poop daily. I have exposed areas of sand, and areas of old bedding, I use old hay. I rake it up, let them spread it out. Especially in the winter, I will rake it up into mini hay stacks, and after a snow, flip it over on top of the snow.

But I am giving advice from an arid climate. My coop is generally quite dry. But again, if you are smelling a coop or a run, or if you feel a heavy humidity, then the soggy bedding should be replaced with dry.

Chickens really need to be kept dry.

Mrs K

 

[charlotte-and-the-bees]

I would add bedding on top of the sand, add scratch to the bedding. The chickens will scratch and break it up. One or twice a year, I put the bedding on my garden for mulch.

Use your nose - if it smells, clean it, if not, don't worry. I have sand in my coop, I have never collected the poop daily. I have exposed areas of sand, and areas of old bedding, I use old hay. I rake it up, let them spread it out. Especially in the winter, I will rake it up into mini hay stacks, and after a snow, flip it over on top of the snow.

But I am giving advice from an arid climate. My coop is generally quite dry. But again, if you are smelling a coop or a run, or if you feel a heavy humidity, then the soggy bedding should be replaced with dry.

Chickens really need to be kept dry.

Mrs K

Thank you! Great advice. We're in the Seattle area so it's not humid but it does rain quite a bit. Fortunately it's quite dry right now so at least I'm not too concerned about the moisture levels at the moment.