I hung curtain rods on the two long sides of my chicken run and bought heavy-duty clear shower curtains. I made sure I hung them right under the roof overhang so the rain doesn't go in between the curtain and the hardware cloth. When I know it's going to rain I pull the curtains close and secure it on the sides with clips to minimize flapping. This keeps it fairly dry. When it's not raining I slide the curtains and then wrap a bungee cord around it I'm planning on adding gutters to the chicken run and that might help even more but the curtains saved the run from Storm Debby's torrential rain here in NJ.
My run was grass, and now it's just dirt. I use a small rake I bought and rake the debris into a pile and throw it into my compost. I do dump some dry dirt, fireplace ash, and DE in a pile for them to dust bathe in periodically.
Hi Nikki. We do the exact same as you. We have the course sand like yours. It’s covered and stays dry year round. We also wrap the run in the winter. ❤
I have been looking far and wide for the quickrete sand. I live in Florida and I can’t find it in any Home Depot near my area. Just to help out anyone else who is looking for any. I got some at Rural King it is all purpose sand but it is called hard scape made by quickrete it is $4.19 a bag. Hope this helps someone.
@@BelindaTN No quickcrete makes washed sand and concrete, plus many other things. It does not have concrete in it at all. My girls love it and it’s cheap.
@@michelebowermaster5373 Ok, thanks. I just bought a bag of play sand, because that was the kind that was recommended by several and not the more corse sand. The chicks are using it for their dust bath, so hopefully they will be ok, until I can change it.
Hi! How do you keep the rain out of your run. I tried the sand thing last summer but had lots of rain before I was able to cover it . We do have a metal roof but rain came in through the sides. It for sooo muddy that I had to add pine pellets to help absorb water and that was so hard to scoop out. What do you put over your hardwire that is easy to put on and off
Hello my question is how does the sand do if your run is covered but my area gets water logged when it rains ? Well the sand clump and turn hard and also hold the Odor? I am also researching you can use horse pellets on top of the sand to collect the water . Is that helpful? Also I live in the north east were it gets cold and snows . Will the sand freeze and can that be slippery and also turn hard were it can be dangerous? Thank you very much and thank you for all your information.
I am considering using sand for my run but I live in Florida and keeping it dry is a concern or me. My run is covered but it rains so much here and the ground can stay wet for days. Once the sun comes out, everything dries quickly. Based on this, would sand still be a good option for me? No matter what i use, its going to get wet from time to time
Great video - 1 question, not sure if you covered it: How does this help with keeping the smell down? Getting my 1st flock in a couple weeks and been weighing options. This seems like a no-brainer but my concern is smell. Would love to know if you add anything to the sand?
How deep do you recommend for the sand? And did you have any sort of flooring or was it straight dirt you put the sand on? It looked like straight dirt ground but asking.
So when you tilled up the run you were only tillin the compacted sand not the clay right? So thr clay doesn't get disturbed by the girls at all? I have a few that I swear dig to China! Lol
Unless you are putting the used straw on the garden constantly and changing it you are breeding mites galore trust me I've used deep mulch for years but I'm switching it up to sand and a fenced compost
@@banhatlessducks the straw decomposes, changing it constantly is a mistake, I only remove material after it compost completely, chickens dust bathe to get rid of mites, Sand is actually more work if you pick up poop 💩 daily, I'll get rid of my chickens before I do that lol.
Lots of people like using ash for dust baths. However I wouldn’t add it to the sand in case it changes the consistency of the sand especially of it gets wet. You want it to be shiftable
