Can I use sand?

[Zowie]

This might sound crazy but we would like to use very fine dried sand that you can buy in bags at the Home depot on the floor of our coop...The coop has a wooden floor with glassboard floor covering the wood... It seems to me that it would be very easy to sift out the poo with a kitty litter scoop type shovel ...I would think that with heat lamps the sand would be kinda warm in the cold months ...The coop is a amish built one and has an insulated roof and is weather tight..any suggestions if this would be ok for the girls? or do we have to stick with the old stand by of straw or shavings.Thanks for your input.

 

[elmo]

I use coarse, all purpose sand in my coop and runs and love it. I buy it in bags at Lowes. I think play sand is too fine, and you don't want any sand that will clump when it gets wet.

Before you set up a heat lamp in your coop, better do a search here and read about the dangers and how most chickens don't really need supplemental heat anyway. If you do decide to use a heat lamp nonetheless, there are specific safetly precautions that you can take, too.