Got sand? You should!

[gale65]

Quote:
I did that and it sort of works. It pushes a lot of the sand away so it takes a few tries to get everything. We are actually going to switch to deep litter. The reason we used sand in our current coop is because we wouldn't have been able to put litter in more than 3" deep. We're building a new one so we can plan for it. The sand is ok but very very dusty and hard for me to clean by myself (our coop is short but I have to get in it to clean).

 

[gale65]

Oh I forgot. We haven't been through a winter with it but I had that concern too. People mainly said that you should put some shavings or something over it in the winter so that's what we were going to do.

 

[NovaAman]

I have a coop that has a 4x8 floor, 2.5 ft off the ground, I am in Michigan, I have been considering this since I saw it, can easily make a lip to keep sand in, but how would 3 inches of sand effect my floor? I use pine right now, was going to use it thru the winter as well, I can get it free as often as I need... But the sand sounds so much easier, but I worry about the weight on the floor...

 

[I-Have-Happy-Hens]

I am looking for somebody that sells river sand I can't find it any were near me if anybody knows of any places that carries it please reply?

 

[AngelzFyre]

Also, the Sweet Peedz you are talking about is really Sweet PDZ.
TSC and most horse supply places carry it.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/horse-stall-tools/sweet-pdz-reg-stall-refresher-25-lb--5065990

I kept looking at that and it looked right the way people pronounce it, but I knew it was spelled differently...

Most places like county Co-0ps are also starting to carry the food grade DE too.

 

[chellejeff]

Cold and sand have been discussed a lot on this thread. In the mountains of Southern California the temps don't get real extreme. At most I had 3 to 4 feet of snow in my yard. Outside temps got into the mid teens. Temps in the hen house got down into the high twenties. No problems at all. Except the snow I tracked into the hen house would melt at some point, then freeze the sand into solid sections where it was wet. It's been almost a year since I originally started this article and I stand by my initial assessment. The sand has been easy to maintain. I added some DE just because it seemed like a good idea, but I think all it did was increase the dust level. The climate here is normally pretty dry so I've not had moisture related problems. Never any mold.

 

[Carrie Lynn]

I-Have-Happy

If you have a small area you might check out the All Purpose sand at home Depot.
I'm not certain what river sand is like, but this sand, with small pebbles of various sizes is working in my small set-up.
Good luck finding what you need.

 

[I-Have-Happy-Hens]

Thanks

 

[chellejeff]

Whatever is on the bank of your nearest river or lake would probably be fine. I've heard claims that sand is dusty, but the fact is, sand is not dusty at all. After it's been in the house for a while small bits of poo will accumulate in it and make it dusty, but a regular maintenance program will hold that off for a long time.

 

[gale65]

If that's the case ours must have had small bits of poo in it when we bought it. It was dusty right out of the bag.