Utah - Sand in Run - Question!

[elmo]

Eventually sand becomes saturated with pulverized poop, you can't sift it all out, and when damp it will stink.

As with anything, it depends. It depends on how big the run is, how many chickens are using it, and how frequently you scoop the poop.

We have a covered run, ten years old, 128 square feet for eight bantam hens. I scoop poop every night for five minutes. The run still looks as about as pristine as the day we first put the sand in. No smell, of course.

We love sand. Wouldn't use anything else.

 

[Peepsi]

Peepsi,

I am also in Utah and have been keeping chickens for about 3 1/2 years. I built my run out of chain link panels (top & sides). It was about 22 ft long X about 10 ft wide and was covered with a tarp. A neighbor who had been keeping chickens for several years recommended putting sand on the bottom of run. I ended up following their advice and put sand also on bottom of coop on top of concrete floor. Chickens had a concrete "step" on one end of coop with no sand they could sit & stand on and of course roosts to perch on. Put pine shavings in nest boxes and usually changed out shavings every week or two and washed out nest boxes as needed. Chickens spent most of their time confined to coop & run. Tried to let them free-range an hour or two a day in back yard when weather permitted. Used that setup for about 3 years when I lived in Utah County.

I ordered my sand from Linden Nursery in Lindon. It was granite sand and had all different sizes of particles. Some large enough the chickens used it for grit. The nursery delivered it in a truck for a nominal fee. I used a wheel barrow & shovel to fill bottom of coop & run. Had chickens out in yard at the time because that process DID raise a lot of dust. The chickens later dug down and mixed dirt with the sand. In the summer I wet down the sand in run so chickens could dig down and stay cool. From time to time would add a bag or two of sand.

Never noticed any problems with smell or with external parasites. The sand seems to help dry out the poop so it does not smell. Noticed a few sow bugs (the kind that curl up into a ball) crawling around in run. Did some searching on line and it sounds like they eat poop? so maybe that helps with the residual parts too small to scoop out?? I usually clean up after the birds once or twice a day with a large cat box scooper. The neighbor who suggested the sand uses a bottomless 5 gallon bucket with a hardware cloth filter and a shovel.

That does sound like it could be a concern with small particles causing respiratory problems. (So far have not noticed any respiratory problems with my "girls" but will be interested to learn more about it.) So far the sand seems to have worked pretty well for me.

Recently moved to Central Utah and brought my birds with me. Using sand here as well. Got the washed play sand in bags at Home Depot but miss the larger particles and now have to buy grit.

Like you, I am relatively new at this so you can take the above for what it's worth! Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for your input! It's very helpful to hear from another person in this area (well, it's helpful to hear from everyone, really, LOL) I checked out Linden Nursery. Their sand is too fine for what I'm wanting (unless what you actually got from them was their topsoil), but it's good to know your girls have been ok with it, and there have been no problems.

I do want to stay away from washed play sand or any sand that is all fine particles... I've read that sand that is all fine particles is a definite no-no, but then again, you say your girls haven't had any problems.

 

[Rasha111]

I fully agree with you on the Wood chippings. That would be my first choice if it were possible (ie, readily available and cheap). But I live in the middle of a desert, with very few trees and little logging going on, even in the mountains, where there are trees. What is available here is sand, and lots of it. I live smack in the middle of a city that's in this desert, on an extremely small lot (so getting a woodchipper and hauling in logs from the mountains and chipping them myself is simply not an option). Sand is the most available option.

I am also here in Salt Lake and am getting my first coop set up so am still learning but I have been looking into a wood chip option that you may not have considered. I'm still trying to figure out if it would work for chickens but you can get bulk wood chips/mulch that are created from green waste. I just did a quick google search and there are a few places here in the valley that have options available. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like it would be a relatively inexpensive wood chip option that would be an alternative to sand. Also, the chips are sold in different wood chip sizes depending on your needs. You might even be able to find an arborist that has wood chips sold at a discount rate but I haven't found a source yet.

Just a couple of examples that I found:
https://www.replenishcompost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018_rates.pdf
https://omcompost.com/pricing

 

[Alaskan]

My issues with wood chips made from yard waste...

1. No idea if they were sprayed with some nasty chemical

2. No idea 8f the Bush or tree was toxic

I get wood shavings from local wood shops and sawmills. I can ask what they have been milling (here it is almost 100% spruce which is non-toxic)

 

[Chick Wrangler]

Thank you so much for your input! It's very helpful to hear from another person in this area (well, it's helpful to hear from everyone, really, LOL) I checked out Linden Nursery. Their sand is too fine for what I'm wanting (unless what you actually got from them was their topsoil), but it's good to know your girls have been ok with it, and there have been no problems.

I do want to stay away from washed play sand or any sand that is all fine particles... I've read that sand that is all fine particles is a definite no-no, but then again, you say your girls haven't had any problems.

It was granite sand

Thank you so much for your input! It's very helpful to hear from another person in this area (well, it's helpful to hear from everyone, really, LOL) I checked out Linden Nursery. Their sand is too fine for what I'm wanting (unless what you actually got from them was their topsoil), but it's good to know your girls have been ok with it, and there have been no problems.

I do want to stay away from washed play sand or any sand that is all fine particles... I've read that sand that is all fine particles is a definite no-no, but then again, you say your girls haven't had any problems.

It was definately sand rather than topsoil. It was a mixture of all different kinds of grains including small ones.

 

[Chick Wrangler]

My issues with wood chips made from yard waste...

1. No idea if they were sprayed with some nasty chemical

2. No idea 8f the Bush or tree was toxic

I get wood shavings from local wood shops and sawmills. I can ask what they have been milling (here it is almost 100% spruce which is non-toxic)

That is one of my concerns as well.

 

[Rasha111]

My issues with wood chips made from yard waste...

1. No idea if they were sprayed with some nasty chemical

2. No idea 8f the Bush or tree was toxic

I get wood shavings from local wood shops and sawmills. I can ask what they have been milling (here it is almost 100% spruce which is non-toxic)

I did find one that said it was organic so I would assume it was chemical free but yeah, that was my concern as well.