Got sand? You should!

[AZ chicken nana]

Oh wow...sorry about your rooster
I think mine are a little spoiled right now...still trying to figure out how I want things... they are all still ducklings and chicks... i have two heat lamps and the eden pure heater in here now with only a low of 40 its only 65 in coop but much warmer under lamps.... and because I have ducks also I'm not planning on doing the whole coop in sand...just around food and water under nest boxes and poop board...like I said still trying to figure it out how I want everything :/ lol

great pics!

 

[AZ chicken nana]

Unfortunately it was all three of my roosters. My best off is one with the peg leg. One has lost a foot and his toes. Another will lose half of his foot and his other foot. Will send them to freezer camp soon. Again hoping I can hatch a replacement.

oh gosh that is terrible! What do you have to do to take care of them? I can't imagine seeing what your wife saw and not freaking out. Hope you can hatch another good rooster.

 

[Bush84]

Well what's done is done. There's no reversing it. You just have to wait for the dead portions to fall off. Generally by the time the dead portions fall off the heathy tissue underneath has healed. So there's really nothing to do. They can still get around just not real well. The worst one will use his wings to help him along, but can still get from point a to point b. My biggest thing is getting another buff Orpington rooster. I am expecting some welsummer and cream legbar eggs any day now. So I will have roosters, but again was hoping to get a buff orp rooster as well. Maybe I should just butcher them and hope Craigslist has something this summer.

Anyways...the biggest thing now is just prevention. I'm hoping going forward that pine shavings or straw will help. I have also taken steps at sealing up any gaps as the coop is an old dirt floor barn. Hoping that this prevents further foot problems. Not really sure why this was only a rooster problem and why it seemed to spare my hens. With as bad as it was with the roosters you'd expect problems across the board. Maybe they cuddled in better. I don't know.

 

[AZ chicken nana]

Hope this summer you can find what you need, a lot of people will give up a rooster if they get one. Glad your hens all made it though and maybe that one rooster will get back to business and you'll get a clutch with a rooster or two.

 

[gaitanm24]

For now I have pine shavings in the coop, but I went to sand in the run about 2 weeks ago. It was the best thing I ever did!! For now I am using the quikcrete all purpose sand from Home Depot or Lowes. I went to petco and got a litter scooper with an extender arm, lol. So, so easy to clean!

 

[kjstanton]

I'm in MI. I use sand only after spring cleaning has been done. During the winter they get Klein Koop bedding. I appreciate your story cause I didn't know this about sand,I just figure I'd better use a better insulated bedding. I'm going to share your story so others know!

Well the warning wasn't for those of you in the souther part of our country. I certainly would have liked to see a warning that sand would have froze my roosters feet off. I'm hoping that my one legged rooster will regain his luster and fertilize eggs so I can butcher my roosters. He seems to have gotten his attitude back and has made efforts so I think it's just a matter of time.

 

[mamakat74]

How do you all dispose of your old sand when you want to start with fresh?

 

[Jenny B]

This sounds fantastic. I will get some asap and try it out. Thanks for tip.

 

[fishdontbiteit]

We are new to the chicken world. We just built our first coop about 4 weeks ago and the chicks are about 10 weeks old now. I built a sand box below there perch and it works so good. I bet it takes 2 minutes or less for me to clean everyday with no odors and the dust level is really low. I use a kitty litter scoop and fill the dust pan. Its about 2 inches deep and I have not seen any reasons to have it deeper then 2 inches. Its relieving to know the coop doesn't have to be a big stinky mess everyday. I got straw on the main level of the floor for now. I will be putting sand there too. The nights are still chilly right now so we didn't sand that yet. Sorry about the chicken butt photo, there camera shy.

 

[kjstanton]

I use a shop vac and vac it up and simply throw it away. I have a 6x 3 ft coop that has a second story that's 4x 3 ft . I don't think it's that big cause I think the max is 8 hens. I don't use sand during our cold winters in MI cause it will freeze and cause frost bit. But live live it in spring, summer and fall!

How do you all dispose of your old sand when you want to start with fresh?