Got sand? You should! - Page 2

You paid how much for half a yard????    WOW !!!!!

What kind of sand did you purchase?  I purchased 3 yards  of "washed sand" and only paid $20.00.  And I just called and placed an order for 2 more yards of sand for my coops and runs and I will be paying on $12.00.

you mean you actually go in the coop and use a kitty litter scoop to clean up chicken poop? this is something i will not be doing.

Did they deliver?  How much did they charge?  Or did you pick it up?

uhhh. picking up chicken poop with a kitty litter scoop is not my idea of fun.I use shavings because:

1. they are good for composting your garden with poop on em
2. I use them for my redworms. they love carbon and nitrogen


alot of people swear by pine shavings because of their gardens.

Beats shoveling out chicken poop with a kitty litter spatula 

I use nothing on the floor. Its wood and twice a week I scrape it and sweep it up in a bucket. I have 18 chickens and it takes me about 15mins. The coop stays dry, and dust free. I  have a pile of poop that I use in the spring to fertilise the garden.

I have sand in our girls run.  The have been in the run since June and there is no fly problem, no odor, and happy chickens who dust bathe with delight anywhere. I use shavings in the hen house as its a raised floor 32" off the ground and that couldn't be easier to clean with vinyl on the floor. 

To clean the run I use a shrub rake and make a pile of sand/poo which I then scoop into a strainer I placed on top of a large cat litter bucket and the sand falls through the screen and just poo (and occasional feather) stays in the strainer. Toss poo in compost and sand back in run. Not hard at all and I won't have to dig out every year.  The only problem so far is that if I don't clean it often enough the poo literally disappears.  Sounds great but not sure if it will be an issue later.

I have a sand floor in my coop too, although I can't compare to anything else because we built the coop planning on a sand floor.  We also built a lipped shelf under the roosts and use Sweet PDZ on it like a big kitty litter box.  I spend about 5 minutes every day with a kitty scoop cleaning the shelf and any big clumps on the floor.  There is no odor or dampness in my coop which makes me and the girls happy.  I dumped a bag of fine shavings in the corner for them to snuggle into if they want, but it's just a play area for them. 

If any of you are unhappy with shavings, I work in a feed store and there are fine shavings and coarse-almost apple peel size shavings.  The fine work much better for chickens because they are more drying.

Sand is not something that works in our climate.

Pine shavings 8-10" is all we use.
Great heat source, and awsome fertilizer.

Nothing goes to waste.

We save the sand for mixing concrete.
It is only $5.00 per yd pick up, here in the midwest.



just my .02

I take em straight out of the hatcher on to stone sand, its cleaner and much easier to take care of, best of all you can wash it and reuse it or put out on the garden

I personally use wood shavings in my coop (large dog kennel) which works great for my silkies. Does the sand wash away in heavy rain if the run is on a slope?