what to do with dirty sand from chicken coop?

[lovemesomeeggs]

Hello everyone! This is our first Post on byc, and our first time keeping chickens. we have three Easter Eggers and three black australorps.We are turning an old shed into a Coop,and plan on using construction sand for the floor. our question is what do we do with the sand When it's time to change it out? We plan on scooping or raking the clumps of poop out daily, but we would have to change it out once a year right? Or do we Just spray it with a hose and keep using it? We are not sure what to do here.Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! THANKS

 

[Ridgerunner]

How well sand works for you and how often you need to change it out (if at all) will depend on a lot of things. Chicken density for one thing. If you set it up where it drains well and pretty much dries out fairly quickly when it does get wet it should last quite a while. If it is in a low spot where the water can’t drain away it can be rough no matter what kind of bedding you use.

If you need a place to dispose of it, I suggest you spread it on your lawn. The grass will appreciate the fertilizer in it and you can use it to level the ground and fill any holes. You might want to restrict your kids from playing on that section until you get a decent rain, but after a good rain I wouldn’t worry about it. Most of the poop should have broken down into compost by the time you spread it anyway, but there will be some fresh stuff.

 

[member 373180]

I have sand on gravel drainage in my run and it's going strong at almost two years. I rake poop and large waste (like kale stems from treats etc) once a week and throw that in the compost, maybe a bucketful of sand and chunks. Every once in a while I add a couple buckets fresh sand to replace what I've taken out. We get regular torrential rain that does a good job rinsing but if necessary I'll spray with a hose.

I have learned to turn the sand with a spade every week or two. Otherwise it gets packed down and some smelly black stuff starts growing in the bottom, I think it helps to get air in there and keep things draining well.

If your sand is covered indoors you may not need this, I have some that's covered and that stays much looser and clean. That's also where the girls dustbathe so they do a good job turning it.

 

[theoldchick]

I have construction sand in my pen area and never have changed it out. It seems to break down quickly so I simply add more to the top. The key to this method is not to overcrowd your pen/coop. Make sure you have very good ventilation inside your coop. You must have fresh air moving inside your coop. Sand and chicken poop create dust. Chickens create a lot of moisture when breathing and the combination of the two can really allow some nasty fungi to grow in your coop. Inside my coop I originally had cedar shavings then went to bare floor (its wood covered with grey tarp) Since my chickens seem to produce more poop at night, I noted where all the defecation was taking place and laid out used feed bags to allow them to poop on it. Once a week I replace the bags with new ones and scatter the fecal matter on the grass in the back yard then burn the bags. On the occasion that I have used hay out in the pen, I have raked it up and placed on the compost heap that also contains horse poop. Some of the local gardeners like to get a couple of scoops of my compost heap for their gardens. I know of people with much larger operations that have a contract to supply their composted poop to the local gardening club. It is not advised to use fresh chicken poop on your garden as it has a tendency to be acidic. It should be composted first.

So my suggestion to you would be to declare an area to be your compost pile and put your used but eventually fertile sand there. How often you clean your sand is up to the amount of poop your chickens make.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[lovemesomeeggs]

Thank you all for taking time to answer our question! We feel much better now that we know what to do.