Where did the sand go?

[bluegiantsc]

I just put some sand in my run. I didn't fill up the whole thing because I only had about 70 lbs of sand, so I just put it under the perch, where they usually dust bathe, around the front door of the house and under their auto waterer. I did it a few days ago and its rained quite a bit, but I didn't think it would "disappear." The first day of rain it was fine and now its gone after 2 days of rain.

Did the rain just wash it away or drive it into the ground, or did the chickens eat it?

 

[gratch73a]

betting the rain washed it away

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chickens are not likely to eat 70 pounds of sand in a few days, but they will eat some to use as grit.

A lot depends on what your run looks like and what the base soil type is in your run. It is possible that some sand washed away. What I would consider more likely is that the rain caused the sand to sink into the ground. It's not so much that the rain drove it into the ground, but the lighter soil particals floated up while the heavier sand particles sank. Sand and gravel do have a way of disappearing into the soil when it is wet because of the difference in the specific gravity compared to many soils.

Something else that probably contributed. Your chickens scratch. They probably mixed the sand into the soil with their scratching. But the lighter soil particles floating as the heavier sand particls sank is probably the main cause.

 

[bluegiantsc]

Thanks so much, it makes total sense now. I went out there today and looked in the run and as it dried I can see where the sand was. I think it did sink into the ground a little and the chickens really love to scratch it around. I just didn't think it would disappear that quickly, but in a large run 70 lbs doesn't really go that far. So maybe it was just silly on my part.

 

[chfite]

70 pounds of sand is not much sand. I put a cubic yard in my chickens' run, that is nearly 1700 pounds.

After several months, they have turned a lot of the sand under with the extant soil so it appears that most of the sand is gone. The soil with the mixed sand is much looser and easier for the chickens to scratch around and turn everything under. Plus, it still drains as well as the thick layer of sand.

Chris