Got sand? You should!

[chellejeff]

I acquired my hens in the summer of 2010. Based on the information I read here, and the fact that I have a wood shop, I put wood shavings on the floor of my hen house. The hen house is 10' by7' inside, and I have 11 birds. The wood shavings (4" deep) with occasional DE worked well for a while. After a few months, with daily cleanings, it began to get dusty in the house and the wood shavings were not particularly "kitty litter scooper" friendly. I was throwing out a lot of wood shavings with the poop. When I couldn't take the dust level in the house any more I shoveled it all out and was going to start over. After shoveling it out I decided this would be a good time to try sand instead of wood shavings. I'm not sure how to best convey this message but I'll give it a try, SWITCH TO SAND. There is no comparison. The sand is much easier to maintain. Odor is down. Dust is down. Poop, clumps and scoops easier. When I step out of my hen house I no longer have poop and wood shavings caked to my shoes. I'm one of those guys that needs to be hit over the head with a new idea before I'll change what I've been doing. If you think you might be like that also, then consider this a smack to the back of your head, SWITCH TO SAND. I telling you, there's no comparison. It takes half as much time as it used to, to clean out the house. It takes 30 seconds to rake the floor with a garden rake to reveal the clumps that need to be scooped. I have a board under the main perch which catches most of the poop. I use the kitty litter scoop to dust the board with sand so poops don't stick to it. It takes less than 5 minutes a day to keep the hen house very clean. I don't know if the hens are happier, but I definitely am.

 

[HennyPenny2]

I switched to sand last spring and I absolutely LOVE it!!! Will never go back to shaving again! Yes, if you haven't tried sand you should. Sand makes cleaning a breeze with a kitty litter scoop just as you would a litter box. The sand helps dry the poo and it really cuts down on the smell big time! We had a huge shed built that we divided and made one end the new coop. I used heavy duty plastic that you buy at Lowe's or Home Depot and used two layers on the floor. I then left about 2-3 inches going up the sides of the walls and stapled it all the way around. We then went to the local landscape yard and got a truck load of builders sand as this is all they had. Shoveled it in and now we need to add sand to the run this year. The hens seem to like it as well. They actually spend a great deal of time in there and in summer I think the sand is cool to them. My sister infact just switched to sand. She was fed up with the shavings making a mess everywhere, it was harder to clean, and you are always having to buy more. Not with sand. Try it you'll love it!

*If it does get a little dusty in summer just use a spray bottle and mist it down and you are all set.

 

[chellejeff]

As you can tell by my post count (this is #2) I'm kinda new at this. I was just so impressed by the performance of the sand I had to share the information. To those who are sold on wood shavings, believe me, so was I. Since I have a wood shop I have a virtually unlimited supply of wood shavings to dispose of. That was by far my first choice. The sand just works way better. I'll address inquiries in the order I find them.

kuntrygirl, I spent a lot on sand because I didn't need a yard of sand, and thats the minimum my local supplier will sell. I bought 7, 75lb sacks at the local lumberyard for about $3 each, and it was wet. Besides, it was easier to carry sacks to the house, than shovel sand out of my truck etc. It took a couple days to dry out. It's washed, course sand. Here in the mountains of southern California a yard of sand goes for $33.

cptbahama , Yes, I spend less than 5 minutes a day in the house scooping poop off the floor. It gives me a chance to interact with the birds, and causes me to see if there are any other issues I may need to deal with in the house. My hen house is tall enough to stand in, and my hens are pets. I am more than happy to spend 5 minutes a day in the house with the birds. My hens get frequent visits from neighbor kids and friends and I don't want them getting poop all over their shoes when they go in the house.

gmendoza, scooping poop is not the highlight of my day, but it's only 5 minutes, and my wife and I share the chore. The scooped poop goes in a bucket, and the bucket of poop is then used as needed in the yard.

Stevo, how do you even walk into your hen house without getting crap on your shoes? Try some sand!! Really, try it.

chickerdoodle, I respectfully disagree, you say wood shavings couldn't be easier to clean with your vinyl floor. Sand is without a doubt easier to clean. No comparison, I've done both. Mine is also a raised floor as my hen house sits on a hillside. I have well drained soil where I live, so mud in the yard is not really a problem, besides, most of the time if I get precipitation it is snow.

Talihofarms, what climate? I can't think of a climate that affects sand, but then there are probably many things I can't think of. Although I live in southern California, I'm over 6000' elevation, I have at least 4 feet of snow in my yard every winter, and so far this year we've been in the teens for temperature many times. I'm actually truly curious what climate you live in that is not compatible with sand.

Zac's Flock , I don't put the sand in the yard, my soil is pretty sandy anyways. I only put the sand in the house.


kateseidel , I hate to admit it, but part of the reason I rake the sand in the house is because it looks so nice when it's all the same depth with the rake lines in it.

Buschie's dozen, My hen house has insulation, but no heat. I find that the birds body heat keeps the house 12 to 14 degrees warmer than the outside temp. The coldest it's been in my hen house to date is 27`F. The birds did not seem to mind, and ran out to play in the snow as soon as I opened their door in the morning. I do need to come up with a better plan for getting that door opened in the morning though. I hate mornings. Your setting is quite different than mine, you having a monstrous hen house, and mine being relatively small. I made my own waterer heater, and have not had any problems with it freezing, whether I had shavings or sand in the house.

Y'all have made my day!! My first posting ever on BYC received boatloads of follow up postings, mostly positive. My wife was literally laughing out loud at some of the responses, and specifically pointed out that cptbahama seemed to making fun of me for scooping poop out of the house. I hope I've addressed any concerns or questions to your satisfaction. I look forward to hearing from those of you that I've specifically called out.

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

This is a really interesting idea. It sounds like it will work well with my mud control strategy too. (Thanks patandchickens)!

I tested out sand in the brooder. It is great! It is better to have a nipple waterer than a water bowl. The rabbit waterer stayed clean while the bottle/dish chick waterer drained onto the sand when the mother hen started digging in the brooder and buried the water bowl.

 

[churchx3]

I switched to river sand several months ago and love love love it.

 

[chellejeff]

gmendoza post #14
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


My response post #26
gmendoza, scooping poop is not the highlight of my day, but it's only 5 minutes, and my wife and I share the chore. The scooped poop goes in a bucket, and the bucket of poop is then used as needed in the yard.


gmendoza post #43
I HAVE NEVER SAID THAT. DO NOT MAKE UP LIES! I USE PINE SHAVINGS,NOT SAND!!


My likely last response ever to gmendoza,
Wow, you have issues.

 

[IRChicken]

Here is some hard science on using sand as a bedding material for poultry:

SAND—while most of us don’t consider sand as “trash,” we usually don’t think of it as a treasure either. But AAES researchers have found a way for poultry producers to turn sand into a treasure. Using sand as litter, these scientists have found, can help poultry producers reduce pollution, improve production, lower costs, and create a side product to sell.

Traditionally, pine shavings and sawdust have been used as inexpensive and readily available sources of bedding material, also called litter, for rearing broilers. Cost and availability of these preferred litter sources are often affected by the rapidly growing poultry industry and by the development of alternative uses and markets for wood products, such as building materials. Efforts to utilize other sources for litter—especially agricultural by-products, like peanut hulls, wheat straw, and rice hulls or recycled consumer products, like newspaper or dry wall—have been partially successful, depending upon local or seasonal availability, volume, and cost. Furthermore, all plant-based litter materials require either replenishment between each flock, following the partial removal of the caked areas where the material has become saturated and dense, or total replacement following annual or bi-annual clean-out of the broiler houses. These activities create an ongoing need for a clean supply of litter and appropriate disposal programs.
...

For the past four years, AAES researchers have examined the feasibility of using washed mortar sand as a litter source for broilers. The advantages of considering sand as a litter material are many: less caking, a level surface for optimum feeder and drinker management, longer use time, less organic decomposition and build-up, and unique horticultural characteristics as a soil amendment.
...

From 1995 until 1998 multiple broiler flocks were grown on sand and pine shavings for comparison of live production (growth rate, livability, and feed conversion efficiency) as well as processing characteristics (carcass and deboning meat yields, carcass grade, and foot pad quality) at various market ages at the Auburn University Poultry Research Unit. In addition, environmental sampling was also conducted to assess litter moisture, temperature, ammonia production rate, microbial levels, and nutrient composition.

Broilers raised on sand performed as well as or better than those raised on pine shavings. Male broilers raised on sand outweighed their counterparts raised on pine shavings in some of the grow-outs. Foot pad quality was also improved, based on litter moisture, time of the year, and type of drinker provided. Once sand had been dried, it performed better than expected in pilot research facilities. Moisture and ammonia levels were similar to pine shavings, with significantly lower numbers of bacteria in the sand.
...

After 10 consecutive grow-outs of broilers, the elements of commercial interest such as production, processing, or house environment were all satisfactory. In addition, a number of other positive benefits were detected during this ongoing field trial. Houses equipped with sand as a litter had less dust, lower darkling beetle levels, less caking, and more beneficial temperatures (the temperature was 2oF cooler in summer and warmer in winter months). Depending upon the cost of alternative litter sources, brooding and clean-out programs, and market age, sand has a pay-back period of 1.5 years.

Turning Trash into Treasure: SAND as Bedding Material for Rearing Broilers - Volume 47 Number 1 Spring 2000 - Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station​

 

[MIchickenlady]

I LOVE using sand, bagged DRY sand from home Depot- construction grade, different size sand grains...works great. Every day or two, I put on rubber gloves, pick out the poops and put in bucket, done. I also sprinkle a little PDZ every few weeks. No smell, dry, CLEAN! I use it in the coop, upstairs and down.

 

[sillyovrsilkies]

Quick ?
Can you use sand for chicks???

 

[HennyPenny2]

Quote:
I got mine at a local landscape yard and it cost about $20 for half a yard which is one large front loader scoop full. My sister has a really small coop and went to one of the local big box stores and bought bagged sand.