What to put on ground of chicken run?

[Silkie2]

From what I've been reading here, I'm definitely gonna try and get sand,
Would it work well for bedding under a roost of 30+ hens? Believe me, they poop a lot over night, this spring I'm fixing up their coop (changing roosts and a huge clean out) and the bedding they have is not working... ( old wood shavings, dirt and poop is what they have right now)

 

[ari128]

I was wondering can I put my chicken coop on rocks?

 

[mmaalumni]

I have a 20x10 run...It has a nearly half buried 2x18 on the bottom of the run. I was thinking of putting down 4-5 inches of a crusher mix or gravel and then throwing some course sand on top (maybe another 4-6 inches) Was even hoping to put river stone in...what do you all think? Should I not bother with the gravel?

 

[Ibchduckin]

I love sand. Also made a strainer. Cut opening on bottom of a bucket. Lined it with hardware cloth. I shovel sand/poop in and it sifts the sand back on the floor. Then dump poop in bucket and pile it in a compost bin. I call the mixture CSS (Chicken **** and Sand) my neighbors love it and put it in their gardens.
Once in a while the girls "sunroom" gets flooded on one end. I lay down a layer of stall pellets (saw dust pellets for horse stalls) it absorbs the water and when dried out it is just saw dust I mix into the ground. It is called the sunroom because I have a long addition with the southern side wall all plexiglass so it is sunny and warmer in the winter.

this sounds amazing. Could you post some pictures by chance! A chicken sun sounds like just what my girls need!

 

[Ibchduckin]

Thanks! That Nifty Sifter looks like a great idea. As I will be going in with sand, I'll have to build one for myself.

Thats a pretty handy dandy sifter, thanks for the pic. Now what do you use for litter in your deep litter method?

 

[DonnaPolous]

I was wondering can I put my chicken coop on rocks?

hi there I live on the Panhandle of Fl. I have nine hens 12 wks I am battling flies from hell I tried almost everything today I have sprinkled ground cloves all around the outside of the run heat has bend horridble if snyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it I am 71 yrs youmg and trying to build a coop by myself Their run is 10x4 half is protected grom rain and sun

 

[Lisawaniel]

Quote:

That is a great idea. I am doing that tomorrow. I have a few feet of extra hardware cloth and plenty of spare wood. I've been using the rake to scrape up the excess hay that gets dragged over the the sand par of my run, and then using the rake head as my sifter. But I always have to touch poo on accident that way.

Now I want to make like a shovel that has a sifter in it too. I am not a farmer or anything (I live in the city), do they make something like that already. Like the front few inches is a shovel, and the back half of the shovel head is a sifter/grate. ??????? If not, let the record show that it is my future patent. LOL

DARN! http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3851763.html

I just use a kitty litter scooper in the run/sand