Got sand? You should!

[7littlegirls]

I have sand in my coop and run. I love it,everything is nice and clean. my husband gets the sand from a cement & block place..fine mason sand. I change the sand in the coop about twice a year. The sand that comes out of the coop I use in the run.

 

[AZ chicken nana]

Cleaning sand is easy. Get a horse manure scoop and cover with a piece of metal cloth, works great! Would like to know how early you can put chicks onto the sand? Mine are two weeks old and the new coop has a washed sand floor. Thank you in advance for your comments.

 

[csaylorchickens]

I'd say 2 weeks is good for sand mine were around that age with sand

 

[AZ chicken nana]

Thank you for your response! I put them in the new coup with sand and they are doing great! I love the fact that there are no longer wood shavings in the water and food. I have sand in my adult coup and it is so easy to manage. I have 11 Rhode Island Reds and 10 leghorns in the adult coup and 13 Black Australorps and 13 EE's in the chick coup. When I bought my EE's I was told they were Ameracuanas (probably spelled that wrong). No matter they are beautiful and we will enjoy them I am sure! Wanted to send a pic but haven't figured that out yet, maybe next time

 

[Bush84]

Word of warning with sand. I had a very fine gravel in my coop. You could make an argument it's sand but it seems like a mix of gravel and sand. Anyways...I left it as my floor as I had read that sand worked great for so many. Unfortunately in January it got really cold. As a result the sand froze as did my roosters feet. Tossed in a bunch pine shavings and there have been no issues since. So if it gets really cold in the winter consider something else.

 

[csaylorchickens]

Word of warning with sand. I had a very fine gravel in my coop. You could make an argument it's sand but it seems like a mix of gravel and sand. Anyways...I left it as my floor as I had read that sand worked great for so many. Unfortunately in January it got really cold. As a result the sand froze as did my roosters feet. Tossed in a bunch pine shavings and there have been no issues since. So if it gets really cold in the winter consider something else.

I can see that for sure. I live in cali and lowest it gets it 20 degrees

 

[AZ chicken nana]

Thank you for the warning? I live in a part of AZ that seldom gets below 32 that being said I can't use it in the chicken run because in the summer the sand will get too hot when we get up over 100+ degrees. So far we haven't had any problems thankfully. I appreciate you responding.

 

[kitten4686]

How deep should the sand be in the coop?

 

[Bush84]

Well the warning wasn't for those of you in the souther part of our country. I certainly would have liked to see a warning that sand would have froze my roosters feet off. I'm hoping that my one legged rooster will regain his luster and fertilize eggs so I can butcher my roosters. He seems to have gotten his attitude back and has made efforts so I think it's just a matter of time.

 

[csaylorchickens]

How deep should the sand be in the coop?

Mine is about 12 to 18 inches deep I love the sand perfect for my girls but I'm in cali. If it's somewhere that's too hot or too cold it can be very problematic for sure.