Aloha fellow hen keepers!

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Tutu of 5

Tutu of 5

In the Brooder
5 Years
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Dec 10, 2014
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I live on the Big Island of Hawai'i and am new to hen raising. I got my first Plymouth Rock hen egg today, given to me by "Braveheart". She is my hen of "firsts". First one who ate out of my hand, first one to squat for me, and now first one who gave me an egg.

It's exciting!

I hope to learn a lot from this forum.

One question I do have. I wanted to set up a sand "bathing area" for my girls and I ended up buying coral sand as the Home Depot here only sold that or one with silica in it. Do I need to worry about the hens eating too much of this? Is there a problem if this gets wet? It rains here a lot.

Mahalo for your help!
 
Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. Which area of the big island do you live on? I used to live and raise chickens on the big island in the Puna district not far from Pahoa. I would not use beach sand in my coop/run as the fine particles can potentially cause respiratory problems for your adult birds, and can completely impact your chicks' crops. When I raised chickens on the big island, I used fine pea gravel for the floor of my coops/runs. For bathing, I used (and still use) a flat box with wood ash in it. Not only do the chickens love to bath in it, it is more effective at preventing lice and mite infestations than sand or dirt. Also, I would recommend a roof over your run to keep the rain out. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
 
Aloha and welcome to BYC!
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And congratulations on getting your first egg! Nice to have you join us.
 
Welcome to BYC
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Congrats on the first egg! Hope that is the first of many a dozen for you.
 
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Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Congrats on that first egg!! I am not sure about sand with silca in it, but I use sand in my coop that definitely has fine quartz particles in it. And it causes tons of dust. I am not saying this is good for them, but in all these years, I have never had a problem. As long as your coop and run are well ventilated, any type of sand will work ok. They shouldn't gorge on this stuff. But will do doubt eat some of it. A little is good for them. Just keep an eye on them and see how this sand works.

Welcome to our flock!
 
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Welcome to BYC!!! The members here are great!!! This is the BEST CHICKEN KEEPING FORUM ON EARTH!!!!

Hope you have fun and if you need anything we are here to help!!
 

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