Anyone use SAND in the run/coop

[ivan3]

tecumseh wrote: Does anyone have experience with using sand in the coop through a midwest winter?

Yes. But we only use the sand (with a 1/4 cup of food grade diatomaceous earth added for every two hundred pounds of Quickrete Playsand) as a base over the congoleum covered plywood floors. On top of the sand we use wood chips and straw. As we clean the coop and turkey shed daily (excepting days when the birds don't come out because it is raining two inches per hour), it stays pretty clean and compresses/spreads a bit when those fat production sex links and big turks hop down from their roosts. The sand is changed out once a year when it is shoveled out and added to the runs during spring cleaning. Sand alone would probably be a thermal sink without pointing heat lamps at it.

soldieratheart wrote: I had also heard that sand will prevent mites since the mites can't live in it, is that true? Does it prevent little bug infestations? If you can and do get lice/mites, so you have to replace all the sand? I have heard to kids getting ringworms from playsand, is the coarse stuff also prone to that?

The only way to eliminate lice and mites is to build an indoor aviary, i.e., no contact with wild birds, etc. Sand is not where they like to breed or hang out (mites will get in cracks in walls, where roosts join walls, etc). The DE and the sand cuts down on the severity of any potential infestation, but will not eliminate it. We rub the roosts down with Tea Tree Oil (don't use directly on chooks) and do weekly exams on the roo's butt (fowl mites prefer roos owing to their predilection for feathers near the fundament instead of `fluffy' hen butt) with a loupe after they go to roost. Any positive sign and all are treated with Eprinex pour-on. Tea Tree Oil and Eprinex are VERY effective and fast acting acaricides (arthropod poison).

Ringworm fungus might survive a bit in damp sand, but I'd guess someone would have to scratch their already fruiting nether parts and then transmit the fungus into the sand.

ed:sp​

 

[tecumseh]

Thanks for the welcome and for everyone sharing their experience!

 

[Megs]

after reading this thread i think i will make a portion (almost half) of each of my runs sand (2X4 or 2X6 retaining wall to keep it in just one area) and the other half of the pen will be left for grass to re-grow, most of the pens have new grass coming in already.

it has just started to rain a fair bit and its starting to get muddy, so i want to fix it before it becomes a problem (smelly etc). it should be quite easy to clean poo off of sannd and i can hose it to get it extra clean! how thick of a sand bed do most people use?

what cleaners do people put in the sand occasionally to keep the smell down?

 

[DawnSuiter]

I don't add anything to the sand or clean it... well.. recently we got the mites and so I did/ do cover the top with some poultry dust... but for a year nothing happened so I didn't treat with anything. I DO shovel it all out & start over if I'm adding new or young birds to a pen... but not always. Yesterday I added a cockerel to a pen of females and he gets to live on their old sand. Of course it is scooped well & feathers removed from the pen.. but no reason to change the sand.

I dont' hose the sand or anything.. just scoop with a kitty litter scooper... the LAST thing I want is wet poopy sand

I try to use at least 4" of sand... but sometimes we just run out and like lately its just been raining & raining so purchasing from the quarry isn't advisable as the sand is just too wet to move and it makes it extra heavy. We like to wait a few days without rain to go get a new batch.. which we will actually go and get tomorrow probably.. before it rains again. So often times there is JUST ENOUGH sand to make scooping easy and keeps the poop from sticking to the dirt/floor/dropping board. In a perfect world, I would maintain a 6" depth.. plenty for them to dig in and dustbathe with.

 

[pips&peeps]

I am thinking of putting sand in my outside runs.

I just wanted to ask, Do you put any base coat down before the sand, like gravel?

Or just fill on top of the dirt with the sand?

Thanks,

 

[Chris09]

pips&peeps :

I am thinking of putting sand in my outside runs.

I just wanted to ask, Do you put any base coat down before the sand, like gravel?

Or just fill on top of the dirt with the sand?

Thanks,

You can just put the sand right on the ground if you like or you can use a base coat.
I use building or agriculture grade sand. It is courser, cheaper and drains better than play sand..

Chris​

 

[pips&peeps]

Quote:
You can just put the sand right on the ground if you like or you can use a base coat.
I use building or agriculture grade sand. It is courser, cheaper and drains better than play sand..

Chris

Thank you!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I just put it down in two of my six runs this weekend. The chickens LOVE it and I can tell I am going to. They all had to come in from free ranging to dance on it and leave "first" foot prints, and then everyone took turns lying on it in the sun . . . the girls that didn't get it yet were very jealous!
Not to mention it looks great. My plan is to sprinkle a cup of DE over the top once a week.

 

[hrdwrkgrl]

We will be adding sand this week. Oh boy.. I am so excited!! xoxox

 

[DawnSuiter]

Congrats to the both of you!!! You'll love it as will the chickens like Katy said