Do any of you have sand in your coop?

[breanna6627]

I just got sand in my coop and want to know how well it works in the long run. What do I do for cleaning? Is it better than other methods?
Note that I'm not there all the time to clean it (automatic feeder and huge waterers)

 

[GitaBooks]

I've never used sand, but I heard from someone that inside of the coop it doesn't work well at all and is very messy. But it does work out in the run.

I've never had personal experience with sand in the coop, but I hope this helps.

 

[Michael OShay]

I've used coarse river sand in some of my coops and it works fairly well, but I actually think fine pea gravel works better on the floor of the coop as it's easier to clean by hosing it out. You might want to PM TwoCrows and ask her about using sand in the coop. I know that she's a huge fan of sand.

 

[shortgrass]

I just got sand in my coop and want to know how well it works in the long run. What do I do for cleaning? Is it better than other methods?
Note that I'm not there all the time to clean it (automatic feeder and huge waterers)

I don't have it IN my coop, but AROUND the outside... They like to bathe in it and dig cool nests under the coop; it does help relieve boredom and cools them off... INSIDE the coop depends on flooring, I would assume...

No flooring, and sand would be ideal; good drainage, easy to clean because its heavy and small grained so sifting larger particles out is easier... If I had MY way, my coop flooring would be sand, but its wood, so I'm not sure I can risk the weight and moisture sand would create....

I'm curious to see what others say, too

 

[breanna6627]

Thanks for the feedback! I don't know what kind of sand I have. I still have a pile in the run of my (huge) coop to experiment. It was a lot of hard work to get it in there. I have very fine sand with some rocks in it, on top of plywood floors.
If you want I can take a picture,

 

[Michael OShay]

Thanks for the feedback! I don't know what kind of sand I have. I still have a pile in the run of my (huge) coop to experiment. It was a lot of hard work to get it in there. I have very fine sand with some rocks in it, on top of plywood floors.
If you want I can take a picture,

Fine sand like beach sand is the wrong sand to use. Not only does it get compacted very easily, but it can sometimes cause impacted crops in your chickens (especially chicks) as well. You need to use a coarse sand like river sand or a very coarse builder's sand.