Got sand? You should!

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[Chicklette 1]

Yes it does.....I think I paid 11.99 locally so there was no shipping.

 

[jennh]

Quote:
This is the scoop I was referring to.https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/62617_pc110001.jpghttps://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/62617_pc110002.jpg


yes, i saw that, but i didn't want plastic. I bought the fine tines jr, which is metal. Now if they would just SHIP it

 

[jennh]

Well, I finally got my FineTines Jr, I removed all the sand (sorry Jeff). I really disliked it. it seemed to stay wet all the time. I switched to pine shavings. I LOVE them. It takes me approx 5-10 min a day to sift through. SO much easier. I wish I would have done this from the start, but I LOVED the smell of hay. It just got to be too much work. It smelled terrific, but it got compacted, and then it was difficult to take care of.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Well, I finally got my FineTines Jr, I removed all the sand (sorry Jeff). I really disliked it. it seemed to stay wet all the time. I switched to pine shavings. I LOVE them. It takes me approx 5-10 min a day to sift through. SO much easier. I wish I would have done this from the start, but I LOVED the smell of hay. It just got to be too much work. It smelled terrific, but it got compacted, and then it was difficult to take care of.

My vet just told me pine chips (and cedar chips) may cause liver damage. She quoted an article about small mammals, just something to consider. I have a teensy little bantam chicken in her office right now with an impacted crop or mass blocking her.... the vet recommended aspen bedding instead of pine. I do like the smell of pine, but once I used aspen and did NOT like the smell but LOVED the curly airiness it made in my compost heap.

 

[jennh]

How does pine chips cause liver damage? Mine aren't eating them, they're just under their roost where they sleep at night.

My vet just told me pine chips (and cedar chips) may cause liver damage. She quoted an article about small mammals, just something to consider. I have a teensy little bantam chicken in her office right now with an impacted crop or mass blocking her.... the vet recommended aspen bedding instead of pine. I do like the smell of pine, but once I used aspen and did NOT like the smell but LOVED the curly airiness it made in my compost heap.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

"aromatic wood fumes" is what she said. I think the problem is inhaling the wood's aromatics.


I want to add only sand to the inside of the coop, starting this spring. With all the leaves around my lot, I think I have too much organic matter and the sand with poop should be incorporated into my VERY organic compost. I just have to add a lip to the edge of my poop board to collect the poop from the sand. I think my birds are tooooo messy with their wood chips anyways.

 

[perchie.girl]

The only problems with shavings I have seen are well documented with cedar. Even the fumes especially in an enclosed coop. Right now I am using Rice hulls OMG they love those but when the coop gets rebuilt it will be sand if I can.

 

[WinterLadyAK]

This post has convinced me to try sand! My chicks are still just in their brooder so they have the pine shavings, but I've been getting sick of the shavings already, even on a small scale. Thanks everyone for the photos and ideas!

 

[BlueCamas]

I started out with Pine shavings, but every time I cleaned I was shoveling out more shavings than poop. It stuck to everything and got tracked everywhere. It was really easy for the chickens to kick up so it was all in the waterers. When I had a broody hen she would try and show her chicks how to eat the feed by scooping it out of the feeder and burying it in the shavings, I wasted so much chick starter!!!

I now have sand it is so much easier! I just rake up the poop once a week and put it into the compost bin. It costs so much less than shavings is is so much less wasteful! As soon as I make a new brooder, I'm converting it over to sand as well. Love it!!!! So glad I switched!