Got sand? You should!

[kuntrygirl]

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I'm tempted to experiment with sand in the nesting boxes. They seem to like to lay eggs in the feed. Every time I leave the feeding stall open during the day, I can expect to get about 3 eggs that have been layed in the feed. They fly in the trash cans where the feed is stored and fly out once the egg is layed. See pic below.

 

[chickerdoodle]

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I'm tempted to experiment with sand in the nesting boxes. They seem to like to lay eggs in the feed. Every time I leave the feeding stall open during the day, I can expect to get about 3 eggs that have been layed in the feed. They fly in the trash cans where the feed is stored and fly out once the egg is layed. See pic below.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_egg_in_corn.jpg

Maybe they are hinting for you to mix some scrambled eggs in their feed?

I love your coop chellejeff!

I also noted your dog and chickens getting along. Hubby and I got our 5 lovely girls last April as chicks and had to acclimate them to our dog which was quite the challenge. I say that as she is a Belgian Malinois we adopted from the US Air Force. She was a military working dog and has crazy high prey drive. I taught her to touch them each twice a day with her nose (mouth closed) while they were in the brooder. This helped get her over the need to want to get all the time and them to feel its normal to have a dog touch them. I won't go into all the detail but it worked great! If they get out of the coop or tractor (a movable pen to keep them in specific areas of the yard to graze) they'll just walk on by her without concern. I have also told her to "get the chickens" and she'll circle them to keep them in one spot until I come and pick them up or "keep them in" and she'll circle and bark around the coop or tractor so we can open it up and change water or clean it out. It gives her a job and she loves them for it.

The first day in the coop for the pullets and Cherokee is getting used to them being in there instead of the brooder:

Our set up now:

Sand:

 

[elmo]

I have sand in my coops and runs and love it, also. Instead of a kitty litter scoop, I use a reptile sand scoop taped to a long handle so I don't have to bend down to clean up:

I find this works better at sifting out the smaller particles and lets only the sand filter through. Got it at Petco for a couple of dollars.

 

[Bobby Joe]

CHELLEJEFF great coop you have got to build a byc page with lots of pics , I love the forest look and am switching to sand when the ground dries out around here we got lots of rain in the past few days . I really would like to see a pic tour of the coop and run area

Bobby Joe

 

[chellejeff]

I'll work on a page with more pics in a day or so. My wife and I are being counselors as an elementary church camp this weekend, so no time for chicken stuff right now. Thanks for all the comments.

 

[Justanother Brooke]

I was wondering if the play sand (the type they sell at Home Depot) works well? I know that when we bought it for my daughter's sandbox, I was surprised how coarse it was, not at all what I think of when I think of sand. I'm not sure where I could get the finer, beach-type sand.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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I'm not sure about that but the type of sand that I bought was "washed sand". It's not course and there are no clumps.

 

[chellejeff]

The stuff I bought was called "washed sand". It is much more course than beach sand or sand dune sand. The list of uses on the bag included mortar mixes, concrete mixes, and as animal pen litter.

 

[chickerdoodle]

I bought river sand and it has a lot of the nice soft sand but small pebbles pop up fairly often. I believe sand created naturally over many, many years is safer to use as man made sand (typically used for concrete and building) has more sharp silica that can be "less friendly" to lungs.

 

[jennh]

X2

Jen


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