UGH Poop Staying on the Surface of Run. SO FRUSTRATED

[hokankai]

I honestly don't know what to do anymore. We have a 12x8 run (no roof on it) for our 8 LF. The substrate 3/4 minus gravel, but the poop is building up and just sitting on the surface. In about 2 months the floor of the run is basically a disgusting layer of poop and decomposing shavings. How the heck am I supposed to keep this thing clean?! They free range for a couple hours each day, and I feel bad putting them away just because the run is so incredibly disgusting. Do other people have this problem?! How do you keep your runs clean?

 

[SunAngel]

I use sand in mine. I add a few inches of new sand every 4 months or so. It works really well for drying out the poo and then it gets broken up. I know some people use mulch too. Using something that can be turned over and good drainage helps a lot.

 

[welasharon]

I use sand and my run is covered. Sometimes I scratch around in it with a rake but not very often. I don't know where the poop goes but it goes somewhere. The only place I had a problem is where they have scratched straw and chips into the sand from the attached pen with the chips/hay in it with no sand. That poop sits right there on the hay so I have to drag it out. Now I try to keep the hay out from under where they roost.
sharon

 

[scratch'n'peck]

yep sand helps

 

[benjoycei]

yeah - sand

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
We use sand in ours too. I've read of people on BYC using gravel or pea stone and some then putting sand on top of the gravel to their utter despair. It's a really bad idea as they both get mixed in together and you're no better off than you were with just stone.

My suggestion (unpopular though it may be) would be to get all of the gravel out of there and start over with sand. It drains beautifully and I have practically no odor in mine. Once a day I go scoop out the droppings with a kitty litter scooper and the remainder just sort of disappears. It's a wonderful ground cover for a run and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Good luck, let us know what you decide.

 

[hokankai]

Our ground does not have really good drainage. The ground is clay, and then 4 inches of gravel/sand mix. Right now we have two pipes acting as "french drains" to prevent puddles in the run. Do you think sand and a roof on the run would take care of the problem? How do I keep the sand in the run? Do I need to dig down and then add the sand?

Edit: Wow you guys replied fast! Haha. Forgot to add, we did have a corner of sand in one corner as a sort of dust bath. However, the rain and amount of poop from them standing in the sand had turned it into a sludge pile...it's really gross.

How should we go about digging down without compromising the run structure?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I don't know if anybody here has suggested it before, but I think I've heard that some people use sand.

 

[BrattishTaz]

Quote:
That is the best suggestion I have heard so far!! Thanks Nifty!!

 

[welasharon]

Quote:
Silly! But we all like the way we said it best.....

ETA: Okay so Taz types faster than me...