Got sand? You should!

[Mamachicks28]

Thank you, Chellejeff! We are in northern CA, Bay area. No snow here where we are. We will install the 2x4 in our in progress coop. Our 6 pullets became 5 pullets and a young rooster. They are about 6 to 7 weeks old. Are they ready to be in an outdoor coop?

Poop tray? Good idea. Okay, we have some perching on the rail we have for them but some prefer to be on the floor, ground - snuggled. Thank you again as well for the tip on my BYC page. It's a photo of my young rooster, Penguin.

 

[chellejeff]

Mamachicks28, you'd be better to ask someone with more experience than I, regarding hens that young in a coop. I wouldn't think it would be a problem, but there could be something I'm not aware of. I put 2 month olds in with 2 year olds, and the big girls picked on the younger ones a lot. I ended up creating an area that the big girls couldn't fit into so the little ones had a place to be safe. The "babies" are about 6 months old now, and just about as big as some of the older girls, but they still shy away from the older girls. I suspect that'll smooth itself out in the next month or so. Currently I have the food bin sitting out about 4 inches from the wall, so if the babies need they can run behind it. I'm sure the big girls could fit in there if they wanted, but apparently it's too much effort, as I've never seen them do it. The big girls all get on the main roost at night. The babies roost on a box, or on top of the food bin. Both of these locations are lower than the main perch. So the babies are maintaining their position in the pecking order by staying lower. The babies then spend all day on the main perch while the big girls are outside.

 

[ChookHappy]

It does help to have a dividing wall between the two ages for a couple weeks before putting them together if possible. This gives them a chance to get aquainted a bit before being put together. We have done that in the past for the new generations and turkeys as well and it works pretty well. Still the peckin order stuff as usual but they need to figure that out on their own.

Anyways though, I wanted to add to the poop board convo and just mention that I have seen a poop hammok (sp?) idea that I am going to use instead of a board for the big coop. Suppose i will just sew a few chick feed bags together and grommet the ends. This should be real convenient for composting.

I'm in the middle of shovelin out a 15x30 or so 1 foot deep pit in the run to replace most of the earth with sand. It's been nothing but a losing battle to keep the chooks dry when it's wet these past winters. Yall know how slippery chicken poop, straw and mud can be. I'll be glad to be done with that for the most part as well. Got a week to finish it before it rains! I have been really lookin forward to getting sand in the run for a while now. We have a raised coop as well but shaving will remain in there. Shaving and poop are too prized a commodity round here.

 

[chellejeff]

I had the babies in a cage in the hen house for a while so they could see each other, but not have access to each other. Then I opened the cage door enough for the babies to get in and out, but not enough for the big girls to get in. Eventually I removed the cage altogether and arranged things in the house so there were narrow areas for the babies to escape to if needed. Thats where things stand now. Occasionally the babies venture outside. When approached by the big girls they normally run back into the house. One day one of the babies hid her head between rocks instead. Problem is, this only protected her head and left her behind exposed. The big girls pecked her behind till it was a bloody mess. Fortunately she has recovered and is growing feathers in the injured area.

 

[gmendoza]

chellejeff

Your coop does look good with sand,Unfortunatly I cannot do that here.We have rock hill blackjack and its a muddy,slippery mess when wet.

 

[chickerdoodle]

Ouch--poor girl! I am glad she is better.

 

[Mamachicks28]

Chellejeff: Ooh, that must hurt! Glad to hear that she is growing her feathers back. Your coop looks awesome! Nice and clean too. Thanks for sharing. We will try the sand with our pullets once we clean out the shavings this weekend, unless it rains.

 

[ChickyLaura]

We decided to try sand in the chicken coop this year. Our setup is not the easiest to haul shavings in and out of all the time. I think it would be much easier to haul the sand in once and just keep it clean. We will see how this works out for us!

 

[ARose4Heaven]

Almost you do persuade me...but...

It gets COLD and SNOWY in Iowa. I mean -10 or less. If I put sand in the coop, is the moisture from the snow I track in, going to cause it to freeze into an icy block? How deep does the sand need to be on a wood floor?

I am tired of wood chips, they draw moisture, and smell within a month. I have quite a few hens, 150, so this is a problem.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I use shavings in the coops and sand in all of the runs.

The sand really keeps the runs from getting muddy when it rains.