Got sand? You should!

[Chicklette 1]

I have been on this thread before and I am now considering putting some Class I sand down in the run as it packs down nicely and then some finer sand over it. I think it will be a good drain base and I am not worried about freezing as the soil base feezes also and I know it would be much easier to clean up from frozen sand than frozen dirt. The ground gets pretty hard when it freezes. I am currently using dried pine needles and leaves that I stockpiled last fall and when it breaks down, I put another batch down which they love picking through. I don't like the idea that they will be deprived of that fun but it would really mess up the sand. Any ideas on my plans??

 

[patman75]

I added 2 yards of sand to my run last week and I'm already so happy with it. No more muddy eggs, no more smelly run and the chickens seem to like it

 

[chellejeff]

It's been over 3 months since I put in the sand. We had a good winter. Into the low 20's many times. Plenty of snow which I tracked into the hen house. Never a problem with the sand. I have a bag of DE which I sprinkle around occasionally, but I think I'll switch to the granulated stuff in the future. The DE raises the dust level. Overall, dust is low, odor is low and cleanup is easy. I ran a test for the last month or so. I put sand in 2 nests and wood shavings in 2 nests, to see which they prefer. There seems to be no preference, the eggs are evenly distributed among the 4 nests. So long wood shavings. Now if only I could figure out which one is eating my eggs so I could counsel her about the problem.

 

[Nava]

I love my sand in the coops, and here is what I do 2 times a year to prevent infestations from mites.

sand is as deep as a 2X6 and, so I cleaned the poop first then added some more fresh sand and then dusted the poop boards,roosts,nests and floor with the pet dust.
I do add more sand during the year I add it as it needs it.

and I'm proud to say I have no mites as well as the chickens
24lb bag

coop #4 12X12

copp #1 12X24

 

[Mamachicks28]

Here's my update on my five pullets: So I put sand in the in-house extra large box coop we had and it worked well with scooping the poop up everyday. It did smell, because they were still inside our house, but they were still too small to go outside because of the weather, even though we are in CA. It rained more than normal and was colder than normal here so we decided to switch over to the sand because of this thread. Scooping the poop and cleaning the coop got easier with the sand. However, our pullets like to sand bathe in the coop so it got dusty very quick and often. Now with the weather being better, our pullets are outside in the nicely built coop and the seems to enjoy it. The run has just dirt and the inside the coop, there is only shaving in the nesting box (they are not laying yet) just in case they want it to keep warm. There is nothing on the floor except the feed bin and water for them. They sleep on top of the nesting boxes and and it easy to clean. They still sand bathe, actually it's dry dirt, in the run but works the same. So thank you for the suggestion and we will use sand in the coop if we have to but for now, it works with nothing on the floor and we clean the coop at least once everyday. Thank you to everyone who writes on this site. I often read just to get ideas and see if I'm raising our pullets correctly. They seem to be healthy and we're just waiting for them to be old enough to lay eggs for us...in another month or so.

 

[toysmom]

I use sand in my run for my chickens to take their dirt bathes. Is it better to use sand in the coop or run. I have some pea gravel in one corner of the run. I have a new run and I was getting ready to put sand in, right now it has grass. Please let me know what you think.

 

[GhostRider65]

Quote:
I think I read they don't advise it because they may eat it. Mine would even try to eat the shavings but of course the shavings were too small for them to eat.

I have had my babies on sand since their second day here, first day I put paper towels over the sand so they would know to eat there food and not the sand.....works great for me easy to clean and sift if dusty spray with a spray bottle as stated wonderful stuff, I use/bought playsand for my brooders. Kim

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

Quote:
Wow I love your house too! Very Neat looking.

 

[mommto3kiddos]

I was planning on putting down pine needles when my chicks destroy all the grass in the run, but now it looks like we might do sand! Thanks for the information

 

[ll]

Just wanted to thank the creator of this thread ~
wonderful information, am looking forward to using sand instead of messy smelly wood shavings.
Thank you!