What material works well for litter in outdoor runs?

[tinyscrafts]

so if you use sand what do you do with it when it's all yucky? It won't compost down...


?????

 

[rizq]

I am a bit curious about this as well. I assume that if you keep it raked out it shouldn't really get yucky. We have a lot of rain and between the red clay mud and the chicken poo it is just NASTY. I have come to hate the rain. Need sand, lol.

ETA: How deep should the sand be in the run??

 

[rfwombat]

I don't know how available it is in other areas of the country...but if you can get it, the absolute, hands down, no question, BEST litter for a run is...

Recycled dirt from marijuana growers.

I do not grow or smoke the stuff, but I live in an area that sees several "free dirt recycling" posts a week on Craig's list. Since the plants get the very best soil to start, and then are dried in the soil, after harvest the soil is fluffy, light and completely bone dry. I have poured gallons of water directly into a trash can full of the stuff to try and get it ready for use in my garden beds, but the water just evaporates and/or runs off. After processing by the growers, and from being under the grow lights, it can no longer hold moisture without first being aged by earthworms and such.

I put recycled growing soil in my chicken run, duck run and turkey run and the moisture in the droppings dries as soon as it hits the dirt. All I do is rake the runs once a month and I don't even have a fly problem in my runs. My yard where they free-range is consumed by flies, but the runs are clean and odor free.

The turkeys and the ducks sleep on the recycled dirt and again, no odor, no moisture. I just rake the top every couple of weeks (not replace, just stir) to fluff it up and redistribute from where they've burrowed in.

If I had known how good this stuff is, I would not have built my chicken coop with a breathable wire floor. I would have put in a solid floor so I could put in in the coop as well. The pine shavings that I have covering the wire floor in my coop get terribly stinky and compressed with poo and moisture and have to be changed often.

If you can find a source, you will LOVE the results. We tried it as a favor for a friend who needed a place to dump his used dirt and we will never use anything else.

We live in a part of the country that sees almost as much rain as Seattle and are right on the coast so we have precipitation in the form of rain or fog every day. Even with our wet weather, still no stink or moisture in the runs. I'm telling you TRY it.

Or you can buy some grow lights and try to dry out potting soil yourself. But why not recycle if you can?

Disclaimer...I am not advocating the growth or use of any illegal substance. In my state, however, it is legal with the proper licensing. And while my family does not use it, I respect others right to do so under the law. My only purpose with this post is to share my terrific results at keeping a clean, odor and fly free run.

 

[consdrs]

Quote:
I rake my runs with a leaf rake and sift out the poo. very easy. I live in the PNW and believe me rain is a severe problem here. we have covered runs. we replaced the sand in the big run this summer. the sand just kinda disappeared. turned into a kinda dirty, sandy, rocky stuff that I sifted and put in a new garden bed I constructed. you should see the plants that are jumping out of that bed!! I put down about 2-3" I suppose. clean, dry and they love to dust bath in it.

I would never, not ever, use recycled marijuana soil. I would treat it as toxic waste and dispose of it accordingly. the amount of fertilizers and garbage they use on that stuff to get it to grow would not be any thing I would drag upon my property. when they go and clean those places out after a raid they have to wear hazmat suits. no thanks.


Connie

 

[PoultryPromulgator]

Quote:
Um. I was under the impression tomato plants were toxic.

 

[KickenChicken]

Right now I am using straw do you think that beach sand would work if its been sifted and cleaned? I just cant see spending $4 a bag at the hardware store for playground sand when the beach is right here

 

[Peeper7]

OK y'all ...
I just got a truckload of concrete sand for use on my indoor barn for the moment. Will use it outdoors too when I finish revamping the area.
We'll see how it works. At $5 a ton it certainly is cost effective. At first the chickens hesitated to walk on it.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Smart move.
Now getcherself a big bag of food grade diatomaceous earth.

John M. Smoll [wholesale distributer - call for retail outlets]
Sturgis, MI
269-651-1566

 

[Peeper7]

Already using the DE. Great stuff! thanks