When your chickens don’t have the proper material in their run, it can cause problems for you and them. When we first got chickens we didn’t know what would be the best material. We used sand, and it was horrible to clean (at least for us.) First of all, we lived in the city so our coop couldn’t be giant, which made it extremely hard to clean because we had to bend over to scoop the sand. Since the coop was small we had to clean it once a week, it was awful. You had dirty, sand dust flying into your face and lungs, and that was just getting old. So after a year, we finally switched to wood chips. That was one of the best decisions that we made for our ladies and us. No more scooping the poop once a week, instead, when it was getting slightly smelly we would just toss some extra wood chips in and call it a day.
I don’t have a picture of the run with sand, but I am sure that you know what sand is and can imagine what it looked like. Our new coop has wood chips too, because after my experience I am never going back to sand again. If you use sand in your chicken run and it works for you, then keep on using it. Just because I had a bad experience doesn’t mean that you will too, many people use sand and love it. So I am not completely discouraging you from using sand, just know that it’s not as easy as doing the deep litter method. Other options for the material would be: would shavings, straw (not hay), and there is of course sand. I have not used wood shavings, or straw before but I have heard that many people like them. I would avoid using any hard material unless it is covered in wood chips or something like that. The other nice thing about using wood chips, straw, or wood shavings is that you don’t have to clean the run that often, because it uses the deep litter method. So all you have to do is add more of the material when you can tell that it needs more, and you might need to just give it a good stir if your chickens didn’t quite mix it all the way. It doesn’t get any easier than that! We have been using the deep litter method for a while now and it is much better than sand. I am so glad that we switched from using sand to using wood chips. Now the chickens are happy and healthy and I am happy and healthy.
Let me know in the comments what material you like to use for your run!
Other articles that you may like:
- Reasons why your hens may not be laying
- A guide to raising chicks week by week!
- Three reasons why you need a rooster!
The 1912 Homestead 