I use sand in my coops, and peat moss and mini pine nuggets for my run, I have had great success in East Tennessee! I add to the run a couple times a year, and occasionally use my mini tiller to turn it over
This is so helpful and well-explained. We have tried several beddings and litter and have been feeling a bit confused. Now I fully understand! Thank you!
Fantastic video. My husband and I are newbies. Our 6 chickens are about 17 weeks. Working on where to build new coop and run. For the moment their small beginning coop and run is under our deck on patio as rain we had totally muddied the yard. We let them out to free range and they run up the hill and duck cover under our side deck for shade. So, this came at a perfect time as now we can d3cide where to put the new coop and run. Thank you, I love these videos and your wisdom❤
Thank you SO MUCH for this. I'm a brand new chicken momma and I've been so confused about all the bedding options. I trust your research and your experience. You've answered all my questions. Thank you!❤
Last year was my first year with chickens. I thought I had prepared the coop run for winter, but I was so wrong! I ended up fixing it, but I froze while doing it. My poor hens!!! This year, I will be using twice as much sand and completely cover the run! I want my hens to live like queens.❤ Edit to add, we live it a very wet, cold environment. There won't be any dust.
I bought mulch for the run, says it’s safe for animals… and now using corn cob bedding in the coop and built a sand box litter style under their roosts and it’s been a game changer. I scoop out the poop from the sand and 90% of their poop is gone! They of course get off the roosts and walk around… but the corn cob is clean, less dust and organic… for those who are first timers… build a litter style sandbox under their roosts.
@@juliemarr65 we set it up where we built a tray under the roosting bar. Plywood bottom with 1x4 to frame it and attached legs to sit it on and filled with sand. The roosting bar sits about a foot above it… and they poop and I scoop everything up in the morning… we got dry sand, course sand, from Lowe’s… it’s been a life saver. We use Beck’s corn cob bedding and never ever will we use pine. Corn cob is organic and composts well… no smell and low low dust. Plus, when we built the new tray sand box, we have around three feet of empty space under to build a brooder or when we introduce any new chickens to the coop, they’ll all live together. It’s like a dinner table style… imagine it like that. Hope this helps.
I've tried almost everything but sand. What we're loving is sawdust or wood pellets. Not heavy, absorbs well, dries well and so easy to scoop poo out of. Keeps it a lot clearer longer
Just a thought, what about placing some sand by the door where some wet does get in (help with drain off) and then put the organic matter further back. It seems like it would make the best of both worlds. I am 1 year into keeping a backyard flock and learning everyday.
I haven't noticed before (was too concentrated on the chickens :D) but your property and location is absolutely gorgeous, nature in the US is breathtaking in so many places! I hope I can move to a bigger property soon but I think it is a bit harder to find one in Europe, we have much less space in general :D
Thank you! Where are you at in Europe? Lots of gorgeous places there too! But you're right, I do think larger tracts of land are likely easier to find here and probably lower cost, simply due to the lower population.
@@thefeatherbrain I am located in Hungary! (really small country in EU standards even :D) we have some really beautiful locations here as well, but we are a country with mostly plains and not mountains, so I am always fascinated by huge mountains to be honest :))
I too use deep-litter but I free-range b/c the litter does get spoiled where I need to flip it, I may have used too much DE which might have reduced the decomposition of the bedding. I have switched to permethrin-fogging & insect-growth-regulators instead of DE. De is only used on the perches to keep things from sticking to them. I want to add color pigments to the diet of my hens to get the yolks dark-orange or red-orange, b/c my grass is only getting dark-yellow yolks so I need to find way more red color plants or an additive. I think you should look into some e-coli studies involving sewage-disposal-areas. In residential settings for my climate that has subtropical-soil-parasites, the ditches in the neighborhoods have excessive human, dog, fowl (with no migratory birds passing through), & possibly mouse e-coli in excess levels that are higher than what is recommended to allow to touch your skin.
I live in Alabama and I use the bark off the pine trees from my yard in my chicken run , we feed the squirrels and they knock the bark off chasing each other around the trees and knock it off in the process so I pick it up and put it in thier run it breaks down over time then I place it in my garden
I love your channel. Just want to ask how can I calm my roosters around my lady chickens most grateful if you reply if not, have a good day all the best.
Question... April 17th I had my first chics hatch out "God's way" (no incubator/no brooder). My Faverolle momma was an excellent teacher & protector from predators. At 4 wks old momma decided her chics were ready to be on their own. So, my question is at what age (these chics/3 girls, 2 boys) is it safe to move the chics into the hens coop and runs? Also, at what age is it safe to move the 2 baby roosters in with my 7 roosters who are 2.5 yrs old? I know I will have to minitor the roosters closely so they do not hurt the lil roosters. I have already trimmed all the spurs and my roosters were trained not to fight as I used a red fly swatter to break up fights when they were younger. Just the sight of the red fly swatter deters conflicts. Appreciate your input as I had learned so much more from your videos than any other chicken keeper. You are most definitely "THE GREAT CHICKEN MOMMA"!
Bri, I have been wanting to get away from pine shavings for some time and you convinced me to make the switch to straw. I always try to give my girls the best. What are your thoughts on using hay vs straw?
I prefer straw over hay simply because hay tends to have more moisture and is therefore more conducive to mold growth. I know some keepers have made it work with hay though.
Hi quick question! We are literally in the process of making an enclosed run for my special needs chickens. I told my husband to put hardware cloth on the ground. In your video you shared a picture of you stapling the hardware cloth. Can you share how you did this? Right now we are digging down about 4 inches and then we were going to lay the hardware cloth down. I’m in southern Az it’s very hot and the ground is got a lot of rocks! Yuck!! I purchased a trench lol and my hubby and I were trenching the entire 10x10 area Sunday! I couldn’t find any videos online. We get rats, mice, snakes, ground rascal oh and toads too this time of year monsoons! Any suggestions on the best way to do this run would be appreciated!! Ty❤
I'm going to try to throw some video clips together for you to illustrate, but I asked my husband this morning and he said he didn't dig down at all. He built up from the level ground instead of digging into it. The idea was to make the run higher than the surrounding area so it drains better - although not sure you get much precipitation where you're at so that might not be as big of an issue. Here's what he did: 1. He leveled a large area in the hillside (actually, our road work guys leveled the area for us when they were building our road last summer - you can see the whole level spot in my videos was cut from the hillside). 2. He laid out a perimeter of pressure treated boards (he says if he'd had more time, he would have laid out TWO layers of pressure treated boards but we were up against the clock, short on boards, and town is an hour away). 3. He cut/laid out the rows of hardware cloth and zip tied them together (overlapping). 4.He stapled the cloth to the perimeter board. 5. He built the walls of the run on top of the hardware cloth to sandwich the hardware cloth (between the perimeter board and the base of the wall). 6. He added a thick layer of gravel and then a thick layer of sand for drainage and also so the chickens weren't scratching straight on the wire. Working on throwing some clips together to illustrate these steps, but may not be done until tomorrow. Hope this helps! Best, Bri
@@thefeatherbrain ty sooo much for sharing! Sorry for the delay in responding I had to travel out of town for a week! This is super helpful and what you provided above makes sense & will help a lot! Look forward to seeing you again on here! Absolutely love you and appreciate the education!! ❤️🙏🇺🇸🌻🐓🐣🐔🐥
Hi Bri, Off topic. Is your website still on? I do have a question about ventilation. We have a slanted roof coop and want to keep that part open (like the one you mentioned in your article) but we want to close it up in the winter. What did you do to close this up when you had this coop long ago? Thanks!!
I haven't added much to the website lately, but hope to soon. I do still see comments. Do you mean the wall-roof gap? We left that open during the winter. That was the only ventilation our hens had in the coop at night. We built the roosting bars to be low enough that any draft that went through the gap would be above their heads. The gap was also protected by the roof so no precipitation got in. If you wanted to close the gap, you could just nail a board over it - although that might not look pretty.
Also, can you alternate/rotate between the different organic options you recommended depending on what's available, cost effective, or easily accessible?
Yes! You're good at this. :) I've found the chickens love when you alternate bedding. They get really excited about anything new, so when you switch the bedding up, they act like it's Christmas, even if it's a bedding they've experienced many times in the past...I guess it's like how some parents alternate toys in and out of play for their kids. A toy feels new when a kid hasn't seen it for 6 months. :)
I have sand in our coop. I’m in Az and we have gravel and dirt. They have a large enclosed but uncovered yard. I would like to have organic bedding but I think it would be very expensive. Any ideas where I can buy the bedding in bulk???
Couple of ideas - do you have leaves? Maybe not where you are in Arizona, but if you have leaves on your property (and neighbors' properties), you can bag those in the fall and use them over the fall/winter. That's what I'm planning on doing this year. You could also check on Facebook Marketplace for different bedding types - leaves, straw (but make sure NO pesticides or chemicals were used), etc. Sometimes you can find things for free or ultra cheap (always be wary, though - I do worry about molds and things, not knowing the history of the bedding). You can also get large compressed bales of straw at some farm stores for considerably cheaper than bagged bedding, or you may have farms nearby that will sell in bulk (again, ask about pesticides/chemicals). Another viewer told me that she has a local farm store she goes to that will give her bedding for super cheap when the bags have been slightly ripped. You also could just block off a smaller part of your yard. Build a 1-2 foot containment wall out of stacked cement blocks or wood to hold the bedding in that smaller area. That could be an affordable alternative to trying to bed your large yard.
Be careful of where you buy straw from. We bought straw from a local farmer and ended up with MITES. We never had mites in 4 years until we switched to straw. I stopped back at the farm and spoke with the farmer, he said all chickens have mites🥴 and straw has mites from chickens,wild birds and rodent's in his straw storage lean to. It took forever and tons of money to get rid of the mites. I ended up using double the recommended amount of elector psp (vet recommended). I will never buy straw from a farmer again.
I have never liked sand for any type of bedding, it's not a natural material habitat for chickens, I get a lot of rain and my run is a pergola roof with a sail shade until the passion fruit provides natural shade for the chickens, what has worked for me has been wood chips, I want a composting run for future garden projects, if the chicken coop produces, eggs, Compost, power, water, meat, passion fruit and entertainment, the return on investment was worth it. I see no production in sand in the coop or run, I deep litter and clean coop once a year, Compost becomes money, sand doesn't.
I have found sand to be a huge asset in my coop, but that's because we get really cold winters here. The first year I had chickens, I had organic bedding (wood shavings) in the coop and it was awful. Because it doesn't dry poop the way sand does and it's constantly breaking down and releasing gases, I had to have a huge amount of ventilation in the coop to prevent ammonia buildup. That's fine when your climate is warm - in fact, that ventilation is welcome by all. But in a cold climate, it means the coop is just as cold as the outdoors and the chickens really suffer. With sand, my coop barely needs any ventilation and stays much warmer. I do actually remove the poop from my sand bedding weekly and add it to the compost pile, so I don't feel it's wasted. I only replace the sand bedding in my coop every 3 years or so which means low maintenance. And I actually do think that sand is a natural material for chickens. You do find it in the wild where chickens live and forage, but I totally get your point. Organic bedding makes much more sense for your goals, climate, and circumstances. Organic bedding is also nature for chickens. And your chickens seem happy in it, so perfect fit all around!
@@thefeatherbrain I also use sand in the coop. I use a kitty litter scoop and remove poop once a week for compost/garden. I also use PDZ (small amount) sprinkled on top of sand and mixed in. My run I use wood chips and leaves and mowed grass(occasionally).
Only noobs use "bedding". Switched all our coops and runs to SAND and negated all these issues. Scoop the poop with a kitty litter scooper as needed then change the sand out once, maybe twice a year as needed when doing a "deep clean". All that poop filled sand is placed into a pile behind our barns, allowed to sit for a couple months and then goes into our greenhouses and raised garden beds. Sand literally sucks the moisture out of the droppings almost immediately and helps reduce smells also. Bedding is expensive, wasteful, can end up being a bio hazard and is also a MASSIVE fire risk. Far as our runs go we'll toss some raw mulch, leaves and other yard waste. Chickens LOVE a pile of "stuff", tear it to shreds and helps it all compost naturally into the ground.
I use sand in my coops, and peat moss and mini pine nuggets for my run, I have had great success in East Tennessee! I add to the run a couple times a year, and occasionally use my mini tiller to turn it over
Great! Thanks for sharing this!
Love the gravel and sand as the base suggestion
I am glad you are making videos again. Keep it up up and look forward to the next!
I live in Florida, and sand is everywhere . My whole yard is a giant sand box.
So you don't have to worry about bedding at all then - it's already there for you! :)
This is so helpful and well-explained. We have tried several beddings and litter and have been feeling a bit confused. Now I fully understand! Thank you!
Fantastic video. My husband and I are newbies. Our 6 chickens are about 17 weeks. Working on where to build new coop and run. For the moment their small beginning coop and run is under our deck on patio as rain we had totally muddied the yard. We let them out to free range and they run up the hill and duck cover under our side deck for shade.
So, this came at a perfect time as now we can d3cide where to put the new coop and run. Thank you, I love these videos and your wisdom❤
Awesome video. Thank you for breaking things down and explaining the pros and cons of each bedding option!
Thank you SO MUCH for this. I'm a brand new chicken momma and I've been so confused about all the bedding options. I trust your research and your experience. You've answered all my questions. Thank you!❤
In South Carolina we have pine straw on a base of contractor's sand. Sand is silica and the dust is minimal.
I use pine shavings and straw molds quick here in hawaii. Aspen shaving are expensive here in hawaii, and the bags are small
Last year was my first year with chickens. I thought I had prepared the coop run for winter, but I was so wrong! I ended up fixing it, but I froze while doing it. My poor hens!!! This year, I will be using twice as much sand and completely cover the run! I want my hens to live like queens.❤ Edit to add, we live it a very wet, cold environment. There won't be any dust.
I bought mulch for the run, says it’s safe for animals… and now using corn cob bedding in the coop and built a sand box litter style under their roosts and it’s been a game changer. I scoop out the poop from the sand and 90% of their poop is gone! They of course get off the roosts and walk around… but the corn cob is clean, less dust and organic… for those who are first timers… build a litter style sandbox under their roosts.
Thanks for sharing that!
What do you do to build a sandbox litter style under coop?
@@juliemarr65 we set it up where we built a tray under the roosting bar. Plywood bottom with 1x4 to frame it and attached legs to sit it on and filled with sand. The roosting bar sits about a foot above it… and they poop and I scoop everything up in the morning… we got dry sand, course sand, from Lowe’s… it’s been a life saver. We use Beck’s corn cob bedding and never ever will we use pine. Corn cob is organic and composts well… no smell and low low dust. Plus, when we built the new tray sand box, we have around three feet of empty space under to build a brooder or when we introduce any new chickens to the coop, they’ll all live together. It’s like a dinner table style… imagine it like that. Hope this helps.
I've tried almost everything but sand. What we're loving is sawdust or wood pellets. Not heavy, absorbs well, dries well and so easy to scoop poo out of. Keeps it a lot clearer longer
Just a thought, what about placing some sand by the door where some wet does get in (help with drain off) and then put the organic matter further back. It seems like it would make the best of both worlds. I am 1 year into keeping a backyard flock and learning everyday.
I haven't noticed before (was too concentrated on the chickens :D) but your property and location is absolutely gorgeous, nature in the US is breathtaking in so many places! I hope I can move to a bigger property soon but I think it is a bit harder to find one in Europe, we have much less space in general :D
Thank you! Where are you at in Europe? Lots of gorgeous places there too! But you're right, I do think larger tracts of land are likely easier to find here and probably lower cost, simply due to the lower population.
@@thefeatherbrain I am located in Hungary! (really small country in EU standards even :D) we have some really beautiful locations here as well, but we are a country with mostly plains and not mountains, so I am always fascinated by huge mountains to be honest :))
I too use deep-litter but I free-range b/c the litter does get spoiled where I need to flip it, I may have used too much DE which might have reduced the decomposition of the bedding. I have switched to permethrin-fogging & insect-growth-regulators instead of DE. De is only used on the perches to keep things from sticking to them.
I want to add color pigments to the diet of my hens to get the yolks dark-orange or red-orange, b/c my grass is only getting dark-yellow yolks so I need to find way more red color plants or an additive.
I think you should look into some e-coli studies involving sewage-disposal-areas. In residential settings for my climate that has subtropical-soil-parasites, the ditches in the neighborhoods have excessive human, dog, fowl (with no migratory birds passing through), & possibly mouse e-coli in excess levels that are higher than what is recommended to allow to touch your skin.
I live in Alabama and I use the bark off the pine trees from my yard in my chicken run , we feed the squirrels and they knock the bark off chasing each other around the trees and knock it off in the process so I pick it up and put it in thier run it breaks down over time then I place it in my garden
I love your channel. Just want to ask how can I calm my roosters around my lady chickens most grateful if you reply if not, have a good day all the best.
Question...
April 17th I had my first chics hatch out "God's way" (no incubator/no brooder). My Faverolle momma was an excellent teacher & protector from predators. At 4 wks old momma decided her chics were ready to be on their own. So, my question is at what age (these chics/3 girls, 2 boys) is it safe to move the chics into the hens coop and runs? Also, at what age is it safe to move the 2 baby roosters in with my 7 roosters who are 2.5 yrs old? I know I will have to minitor the roosters closely so they do not hurt the lil roosters. I have already trimmed all the spurs and my roosters were trained not to fight as I used a red fly swatter to break up fights when they were younger. Just the sight of the red fly swatter deters conflicts.
Appreciate your input as I had learned so much more from your videos than any other chicken keeper. You are most definitely "THE GREAT CHICKEN MOMMA"!
Where did you get those small shade tents? I love those!!!
Bri,
I have been wanting to get away from pine shavings for some time and you convinced me to make the switch to straw. I always try to give my girls the best. What are your thoughts on using hay vs straw?
I prefer straw over hay simply because hay tends to have more moisture and is therefore more conducive to mold growth. I know some keepers have made it work with hay though.
Great video. Is it okay to combine a couple of beddings, e.g., straw and dried leaves?
Yes! Great point! I actually prefer mixing beddings. Every bedding has its downsides, but I find when you mix them, the downsides get downplayed.
@@thefeatherbrain Thank you!
Hi quick question! We are literally in the process of making an enclosed run for my special needs chickens. I told my husband to put hardware cloth on the ground. In your video you shared a picture of you stapling the hardware cloth. Can you share how you did this? Right now we are digging down about 4 inches and then we were going to lay the hardware cloth down. I’m in southern Az it’s very hot and the ground is got a lot of rocks! Yuck!! I purchased a trench lol and my hubby and I were trenching the entire 10x10 area Sunday! I couldn’t find any videos online. We get rats, mice, snakes, ground rascal oh and toads too this time of year monsoons! Any suggestions on the best way to do this run would be appreciated!! Ty❤
I'm going to try to throw some video clips together for you to illustrate, but I asked my husband this morning and he said he didn't dig down at all. He built up from the level ground instead of digging into it. The idea was to make the run higher than the surrounding area so it drains better - although not sure you get much precipitation where you're at so that might not be as big of an issue.
Here's what he did:
1. He leveled a large area in the hillside (actually, our road work guys leveled the area for us when they were building our road last summer - you can see the whole level spot in my videos was cut from the hillside). 2. He laid out a perimeter of pressure treated boards (he says if he'd had more time, he would have laid out TWO layers of pressure treated boards but we were up against the clock, short on boards, and town is an hour away). 3. He cut/laid out the rows of hardware cloth and zip tied them together (overlapping). 4.He stapled the cloth to the perimeter board. 5. He built the walls of the run on top of the hardware cloth to sandwich the hardware cloth (between the perimeter board and the base of the wall). 6. He added a thick layer of gravel and then a thick layer of sand for drainage and also so the chickens weren't scratching straight on the wire.
Working on throwing some clips together to illustrate these steps, but may not be done until tomorrow.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Bri
Put a video together for you - ua-cam.com/video/OFvpFbhk_Es/v-deo.html
Hope it's not too late to help!
Best,
Bri
@@thefeatherbrain ty sooo much for sharing! Sorry for the delay in responding I had to travel out of town for a week! This is super helpful and what you provided above makes sense & will help a lot!
Look forward to seeing you again on here! Absolutely love you and appreciate the education!! ❤️🙏🇺🇸🌻🐓🐣🐔🐥
Hi Bri, Off topic. Is your website still on? I do have a question about ventilation. We have a slanted roof coop and want to keep that part open (like the one you mentioned in your article) but we want to close it up in the winter. What did you do to close this up when you had this coop long ago? Thanks!!
I haven't added much to the website lately, but hope to soon. I do still see comments.
Do you mean the wall-roof gap? We left that open during the winter. That was the only ventilation our hens had in the coop at night. We built the roosting bars to be low enough that any draft that went through the gap would be above their heads. The gap was also protected by the roof so no precipitation got in. If you wanted to close the gap, you could just nail a board over it - although that might not look pretty.
Also, can you alternate/rotate between the different organic options you recommended depending on what's available, cost effective, or easily accessible?
Yes! You're good at this. :) I've found the chickens love when you alternate bedding. They get really excited about anything new, so when you switch the bedding up, they act like it's Christmas, even if it's a bedding they've experienced many times in the past...I guess it's like how some parents alternate toys in and out of play for their kids. A toy feels new when a kid hasn't seen it for 6 months. :)
@@thefeatherbrain Great. Thank you.
I have sand in our coop. I’m in Az and we have gravel and dirt. They have a large enclosed but uncovered yard. I would like to have organic bedding but I think it would be very expensive. Any ideas where I can buy the bedding in bulk???
Couple of ideas - do you have leaves? Maybe not where you are in Arizona, but if you have leaves on your property (and neighbors' properties), you can bag those in the fall and use them over the fall/winter. That's what I'm planning on doing this year. You could also check on Facebook Marketplace for different bedding types - leaves, straw (but make sure NO pesticides or chemicals were used), etc. Sometimes you can find things for free or ultra cheap (always be wary, though - I do worry about molds and things, not knowing the history of the bedding). You can also get large compressed bales of straw at some farm stores for considerably cheaper than bagged bedding, or you may have farms nearby that will sell in bulk (again, ask about pesticides/chemicals). Another viewer told me that she has a local farm store she goes to that will give her bedding for super cheap when the bags have been slightly ripped. You also could just block off a smaller part of your yard. Build a 1-2 foot containment wall out of stacked cement blocks or wood to hold the bedding in that smaller area. That could be an affordable alternative to trying to bed your large yard.
@@thefeatherbrain thank you great suggestions!
Be careful of where you buy straw from. We bought straw from a local farmer and ended up with MITES. We never had mites in 4 years until we switched to straw. I stopped back at the farm and spoke with the farmer, he said all chickens have mites🥴 and straw has mites from chickens,wild birds and rodent's in his straw storage lean to. It took forever and tons of money to get rid of the mites. I ended up using double the recommended amount of elector psp
(vet recommended). I will never buy straw from a farmer again.
Pine shavings for my girls
I have never liked sand for any type of bedding, it's not a natural material habitat for chickens, I get a lot of rain and my run is a pergola roof with a sail shade until the passion fruit provides natural shade for the chickens, what has worked for me has been wood chips, I want a composting run for future garden projects, if the chicken coop produces, eggs, Compost, power, water, meat, passion fruit and entertainment, the return on investment was worth it. I see no production in sand in the coop or run, I deep litter and clean coop once a year, Compost becomes money, sand doesn't.
I have found sand to be a huge asset in my coop, but that's because we get really cold winters here. The first year I had chickens, I had organic bedding (wood shavings) in the coop and it was awful. Because it doesn't dry poop the way sand does and it's constantly breaking down and releasing gases, I had to have a huge amount of ventilation in the coop to prevent ammonia buildup. That's fine when your climate is warm - in fact, that ventilation is welcome by all. But in a cold climate, it means the coop is just as cold as the outdoors and the chickens really suffer. With sand, my coop barely needs any ventilation and stays much warmer.
I do actually remove the poop from my sand bedding weekly and add it to the compost pile, so I don't feel it's wasted. I only replace the sand bedding in my coop every 3 years or so which means low maintenance.
And I actually do think that sand is a natural material for chickens. You do find it in the wild where chickens live and forage, but I totally get your point. Organic bedding makes much more sense for your goals, climate, and circumstances. Organic bedding is also nature for chickens. And your chickens seem happy in it, so perfect fit all around!
@thefeatherbrain technically I have sand both in my coop and run, it's all pretty much steel reinforced block and concrete lol
@@MosaicHomestead Lol!!!
@@thefeatherbrain
I also use sand in the coop.
I use a kitty litter scoop and remove poop once a week for compost/garden.
I also use PDZ (small amount) sprinkled on top of sand and mixed in.
My run I use wood chips and leaves and mowed grass(occasionally).
Only noobs use "bedding". Switched all our coops and runs to SAND and negated all these issues. Scoop the poop with a kitty litter scooper as needed then change the sand out once, maybe twice a year as needed when doing a "deep clean". All that poop filled sand is placed into a pile behind our barns, allowed to sit for a couple months and then goes into our greenhouses and raised garden beds. Sand literally sucks the moisture out of the droppings almost immediately and helps reduce smells also. Bedding is expensive, wasteful, can end up being a bio hazard and is also a MASSIVE fire risk. Far as our runs go we'll toss some raw mulch, leaves and other yard waste. Chickens LOVE a pile of "stuff", tear it to shreds and helps it all compost naturally into the ground.