Where do you put your old sand?

[Rubyfox]

I put sand down in my run 6 months ago and its now smelling bad so wanted to know, what do I do with all my dirty sand now its wet,and smelly ? Only owned chickens since last July so new to all this, thank you.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It may not work for you but everything from my coops and runs ends up in the compost piles or garden beds.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

Do you have a garden? Not sure of you soil type, but we'd probably plow it into the garden. We have dense clay and the sand would help loosen-up the soil. We do deep litter in our run and that goes into the garden. Chicken poo is great fertilizer.

 

[Rubyfox]

Thanks for your replies , I have a smallish garden I could put some on. How oftern do you have to change the sand?

 

[aart]

Just start putting deep litter materials over the sand.

This is used inside a coop but great description and video:
Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

 

[ECBW]

Sand is heavy and does not decompose. Sand does not clean up well. That is why I used sand once and stopped. Spread them thinly over the lawn hopefully just once.

 

[Rubyfox]

Thank you everyone, I watched the video but it doesnt say how I start with the organic bedding?

 

[aart]

Thank you everyone, I watched the video but it doesnt say how I start with the organic bedding?

The post lists ingredients....the video shows how it looks.

 

[TalkALittle]

I started with about 8 inches of wood chips from a tree trimming company. On top of that I dumped a couple of inches of pine shavings and chopped straw. Then I added some shredded leaves and partially composted lawn waste that I dug out from under the snow.

I started my deep litter in early April and it limited what materials I could get. The tree guy couldn't figure out what I was planning to do with the chips considering all of New England was still under feet of snow. If I could have gotten grass clippings I would have used them. All summer long I did add clippings to the run. Any chicken-safe weeds and garden clippings go in the run. I gather my leaves in the autumn with the bagging mower and I just dump them in the run.

 

[aart]

I started with about 8 inches of wood chips from a tree trimming company. On top of that I dumped a couple of inches of pine shavings and chopped straw. Then I added some shredded leaves and partially composted lawn waste that I dug out from under the snow.

I started my deep litter in early April and it limited what materials I could get. The tree guy couldn't figure out what I was planning to do with the chips considering all of New England was still under feet of snow. If I could have gotten grass clippings I would have used them. All summer long I did add clippings to the run. Any chicken-safe weeds and garden clippings go in the run. I gather my leaves in the autumn with the bagging mower and I just dump them in the run.

Lots of those wood chippings is a good base to start with......it'll 'eat up' just about anything else (especially the green stuff) you put in there without causing molding issues.