Best sifting rake for sand bottomed run

[Heididi]

Hooray!! We are finally in action with four chicks in our new spacious sand floored run. Now it occurs to me that the rake is just not picking up their poops. If you have a run with a sand floor, how do you clean it and keep it fresh? I'm consider g somehow attaching 1/4 inch hardware mesh to a tool, but is that fine enough? (We have a pine shaving/deep litter method in the actual coop. I'm just wondering about the large run.) I know all of you experienced chicken keepers will have figured this out already. I'm looking forward to your comments! Many thanks!!!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I would personally go deep litter or semi deep litter in the run as well.

I tried sand.. and when it rained it stunk to high heaven around the edges of my covered run. Since switching to semi DL (I pick up all the poos I see), no more smell when it rains.

The issue with sand for me... is that even though you remove all the solid poo... the juice is still left behind drying and remaining on the sand. Then when using the kitty sifter method, all the dried fecal/urine matter becomes part of the floating dust.

The washed river sand actually works fine inside my coop where it never gets any rain.

For reference I live in the Pacific Northwest US. Adding your general location to your profile can help others to make the most relevant suggestions at a glance without having to ask first.

Hope you are enjoying BYC and happy chickeneering!

 

[Heididi]

Ahhh, thanks for that. Yes, something about the lack of microbes in sand made me a little concerned for where all the liquid and residue gets 'digested'. I am an avid composter and practice permaculture, so I rejoice in the role chooks play in the whole system, and have worried that sand seems to block them off a bit from it. However, I do like the fact that poop will stay dry (we live in San Diego). I wonder about the residue you mention. I think some people use a product to neutralize the odors (PDZ?). I've changed my profile upon your recommendation. Thanks for that, too! I am a newbie and still learning the ropes. I am really enjoying all the wisdom and community on this site!

 

[aart]

where all the liquid and residue gets 'digested'

It doesn't.
As a composter you probably know that not many(if any) organisms will thrive in just sand.

Eventually the sand will become saturated with pulverized poop(never mind any liquid) and when damp(not necessarily 'wet') it will stink.
Learned that with using it in the brooder, even sifting using window screen sized mesh still didn't get it all out.

PDZ can reduce odors by absorbing ammonia, I use a thin layer on my poop boards, but there's a limit to how much it can absorb....and it would be expensive to use in a run of any size.

I use aged ramial wood chippings in my run, excellent poop digesters (but I'm not making garden soil).

 

[Firefoot]

I second was aart said. I use sand in the coop during the warmer months and just scoop it daily with a kitty litter scoop (pine chips in the winter). But in the run, I use wood chips and leaves. I got a local arborist to drop off a load of chips for free and added about 4" at the beginning of winter (10'x40' run). I never raked my yard (oops lol) so I periodically have raked in big piles of leaves for them.

The chips and leaves break down so in the spring and maybe fall I'll add another layer of chips, but they are really nice as they give the chickens lots of stuff to dig through and help break down the poop, too. If it's really wet (and not frozen like it is now) I rake it all up into big piles every couple weeks and sprinkle some PDZ. Usually I do that in the evening after they roost and then they spend the next morning digging through the piles and put it all back down.

This method has worked really well for the past couple years. I do put down straw in the winter when there's snow or the ground is super cold because my chickens refuse to walk on snow. I can't say I blame them. But I muck the straw out after some weeks as it doesn't really break down or absorb anything so it becomes useless.

 

[Alaskan]

I think the same works well in a run if the run has good drainage.

The water helps to wash out the sand.

I wired mesh onto a light pitchfork to help sift muck out of sand.

 

[Heididi]

I think the same works well in a run if the run has good drainage.

The water helps to wash out the sand.

I wired mesh onto a light pitchfork to help sift muck out of sand.

Hi! Are you referring to sand in the run? I am not sure what you think works well in a run. Seems like you work with sand and it isn't giving you the same problems mentioned previously. Am I reading you right?

 

[Heididi]

I second was aart said. I use sand in the coop during the warmer months and just scoop it daily with a kitty litter scoop (pine chips in the winter). But in the run, I use wood chips and leaves. I got a local arborist to drop off a load of chips for free and added about 4" at the beginning of winter (10'x40' run). I never raked my yard (oops lol) so I periodically have raked in big piles of leaves for them.

The chips and leaves break down so in the spring and maybe fall I'll add another layer of chips, but they are really nice as they give the chickens lots of stuff to dig through and help break down the poop, too. If it's really wet (and not frozen like it is now) I rake it all up into big piles every couple weeks and sprinkle some PDZ. Usually I do that in the evening after they roost and then they spend the next morning digging through the piles and put it all back down.

This method has worked really well for the past couple years. I do put down straw in the winter when there's snow or the ground is super cold because my chickens refuse to walk on snow. I can't say I blame them. But I muck the straw out after some weeks as it doesn't really break down or absorb anything so it becomes useless.

Firefoot, do you have any problem with smell or flies? My only reason for not using organic matter in the run is that I have read elsewhere that flies love it. We live in sunny, warm Southern California with an annual rainfall of 7 inches (usually). Everyone else I know with chickens has fly problems. I would love to have a run full of composting chicken manure and carbonaceous material like wood chips, in order to create healthier soil over the long term, but my coop is only 40 steps from the back door of our house and I cannot stress enough my desire to keep flies at a minimum. Several years ago I was unexpectedly gifted three chicks, which I donated to the local children's farm, but prior to donating them, we allowed them to free range daily and the flies were atrocious. I've love to know your advice for flies in the coop. Thanks!!!!

 

[Firefoot]

Firefoot, do you have any problem with smell or flies? My only reason for not using organic matter in the run is that I have read elsewhere that flies love it. We live in sunny, warm Southern California with an annual rainfall of 7 inches (usually). Everyone else I know with chickens has fly problems. I would love to have a run full of composting chicken manure and carbonaceous material like wood chips, in order to create healthier soil over the long term, but my coop is only 40 steps from the back door of our house and I cannot stress enough my desire to keep flies at a minimum. Several years ago I was unexpectedly gifted three chicks, which I donated to the local children's farm, but prior to donating them, we allowed them to free range daily and the flies were atrocious. I've love to know your advice for flies in the coop. Thanks!!!!

Last year in MD we had 72.5” of rain. 40% of the days were rain. It’s been miserable and wet since this time last year and we are due for more snow/rain this week.

So we have plenty of wet. There are flies in the summer but I haven’t found them to be that terrible. I think taking up with the PDZ helps the smell, as I don’t really notice a smell ever. I am most bothered by mosquitoes but only because I am highly sensitive. My husband never notices the mosquitoes whereas I can barely be in the yard from May til October. But I see the chickens chase and eat both flies and mosquitoes.

I have big patches of mint so I would cut some mint and hang bundles in the coop and run, trying the keep the mosquitoes down. I know there are other plants you can plant nearby that help with flies/mosquitoes. There are also some essential oil-based sprays that help. There is a kind of horse fly spray called Equi-Derma Neem Spray that works really well for flies and mosquitoes, it just isn’t super long lasting. But I would spray the perimeter of the run and then myself when I wanted to spend time in there.

Unfortunately that’s all I got. Like I said, I don’t really notice a ton of flies. Definitely more flies with the horses than the chickens, probably because the chickens keep the ground turned up so much.

 

[Alaskan]

Hi! Are you referring to sand in the run? I am not sure what you think works well in a run. Seems like you work with sand and it isn't giving you the same problems mentioned previously. Am I reading you right?

Silly autocorrect correct..

I did mean to type SAND.