Hi everyone! I have a 4x8 raised coop, with an 8x10 covered run, inhabited by 6 lovely girls who are just starting to lay. All summer, we used pine shavings in the coop, and left the run as bare dirt. When I cleaned out the coop every month or so (it stayed pretty clean since I have poop boards under the roosts), I would just sweep the used shavings in to the run. I never really noticed much odour, and the girls were happy to peck around and bathe in the dirt. However, the dirt in that area is icing sugar fine, and poofs everywhere! And the shavings were making a mess, blowing out of the run. So after much research, I decided to try sand in both the coop and the run; it sounded like it would overall be cleaner, less dusty, drier, and would maintain a more stable temperature. It's been a week now, and I love certain things about it: the run is no longer dusty, and the coop and run are super clean because I scoop the poops out every day. The girls no longer dust bathe in the run, though; they now save that for outside in my garden beds when they are free ranging, so it appears that they prefer dirt. The big question I have, the big doubt in my mind, is regarding temperatures through the winter. The sand, although dry, is much colder to the touch, compared to the shavings that I still have in my external nesting boxes. I had read that sand has a higher thermal mass than shavings and will therefore keep coop temps more stable, but even if it doesn't freeze, I worry that it's going to be pretty cold to walk around on in the winter. FYI, I don't plan on heating the coop; it is draft-free, and well-ventilated along the top. I live in the southern interior of BC; in the summer, we can get temps as high as the high 30s celsius, and in winter, although the average is between -5 and -15C, it can occasionally get as cold as -20 or -25C.
So it all boils down to this: even with all the other benefits of sand, is it going to be too cold for my girls?? I understand that bedding is intended to keep the coop dry, not warm the coop. But I worry that it's actually going to make it colder for the girls. I could sweep the sand in the coop into the run, dig it into the dirt (which will hopefully still help with the dust issue of plain dirt), or even add some to the garden; and then replace the coop sand with shavings again, going back to my previous maintenance methods. The deep litter method doesn't interest me, so if I do shavings I will be cleaning the coop regularly.
Super long post!! What should I do?
So it all boils down to this: even with all the other benefits of sand, is it going to be too cold for my girls?? I understand that bedding is intended to keep the coop dry, not warm the coop. But I worry that it's actually going to make it colder for the girls. I could sweep the sand in the coop into the run, dig it into the dirt (which will hopefully still help with the dust issue of plain dirt), or even add some to the garden; and then replace the coop sand with shavings again, going back to my previous maintenance methods. The deep litter method doesn't interest me, so if I do shavings I will be cleaning the coop regularly.
Super long post!! What should I do?
