Will sand work in this situation?

[Rose66]

I went out today and turned over the shavings in my coop and there was mold under parts of it and it smelled yucky. My coop is three sided wire and it has been storming with blowing rain every afternoon now for a week or more so the area along the three wire sides where the rain blows in and gets the shavings wet are the moldy areas. My coop floor is 3/4" treated plywood with vinyl flooring on top of it, so the shavings can't drain or dry out before it rains again, hence the mold and smell. I've got to do something since the mold and smell is unacceptable. I'm thinking of changing over to sand. Will sand work well in my coop setup? Does sand do okay getting wet or will it mold too? How deep does the sand need to be? Thanks!

 

[mljohnson05]

You can try sand...you will have to rake it when it rains to help turn it to dry out....but It may be better than moldy shavings.....I use 4inches in sand with my coop and it does pretty well....Not sure if it will mold or not though...



Best Wishes,
Laura

 

[ll]

Can you create some type of porch awning overhang on the sides?
Good luck.

 

[Rose66]

I have a two foot overhand on all sides but the storms we've been having lately are blowing like crazy. The rain is almost going completely sideways. It is weird weather for us so maybe I'll just have to suck it up and live with it until the weather goes back to normal.

 

[bryan99705]

You could switch to pea gravel (and wash the poo into the ground) or sand. Maybe stretch a awning or tarp like a rain fly on a tent. The mold is bad, the damp snad is not but you need to keep the birds dry so they stay healthy

 

[ThinkingChickens]

I agree gravel might be a good solution. I've never seen sand get moldy. Our neighbors have a gigantic sand pit and we get snow, rain, etc. and it dries out pretty quickly. We will be using sand in our walk in run.

 

[Rose66]

I'm talking about putting sand in my COOP, not my run. Are ya'll saying put pea gravel in their COOP instead of sand?