dirt from the back yard or all purpose sand - that is the question

[Debra Aberbom]

Hello all, my coop is almost done and ready to put chicks into. I was going to use all pupose sand but husband says just use dirt from the back yard because it is free. Well a little bit about the back yard dirt. It is dg and fill dirt. I do not know where the fill dirt came from, what it may have in it such as desease or ???, also in one part of the fill dirt a castor bean tree started growing so feel that more castor bean seeds are in the dirt. Please any advice or comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Michael OShay]

The dirt should be okay to use as chickens will not eat castor beans and healthy chickens should not be affected adversely by an organisms in the dirt. However, if you decide to go with sand instead, do not use playground sand or beach sand as the fine grains have caused the deaths of chickens by impacting their crops. Instead you would be better off to use a fine pea gravel or wood shaving/chips. Hope this helps.