Not a chicken person, but a quail person, but a coarse grain sand is the way to go for any outdoor poultry/gamebird bedding, with daily cleaning. Wood shavings, yes, even pine and aspen, while convenient, are toxic to birds with the scent oils they contain, told to me by my vet. They won’t outright kill a bird, but they can cause issues over time, though, some people never have issues. Any type of “play” sand, or fine sand, can cause crop impactions since it has a “clumping” ability when wet, so make sure it’s a construction or a coarse grain sand, but not big enough to be gravel, because that can cause bumblefoot, which is caused by either long periods of time on rough, or hard and flat surfaces, causing sores, or wet conditions that grow bacteria that get into a foot wound, which wood shavings will also cause. Mix a few bags of commercial chicken grit, and a few bags of chick sized grit, watching for additives, into your bedding sand mixture, and also provide a bowl of just grit. Then they’ll always have good stones for their gizzard, and they’ll like going looking for them. It will smell if you’re not in there cleaning daily, and you’ll probably have to scoop it out and change it all every few months, don’t know how that’ll work for composting, but it’s the best for their health that I’ve found, keeping things dry, and they’ll love to sandbathe. But this is all my crazy hyper-sanitized opinion, so be sure to go listen to others, too, and decide what’s best for you!
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