Help on exactly what kind of sand to get for coop....

[ynendine]

My chicks are 3 weeks old and we will be building coop very soon...After reading many posts I decides to go wih the sand...i scooped up poop out of brooder daily but my garage still smelled like a barn and the dust was unbelievable!!! so I decided to try the shavings...the dust was less but after 3 days it also stunk ...I even added sweet pdz...so I completely changed it...I have 8 chickes and brooder is appropriate size...

The sand I used prior to the shavings was from Lowes.. and it is labeled Quikrete all purpose sand coarse and washed..this is what i have heard some people use...I am very confused on what i will use in coop for permanent solution here...any input from anyone??? I live in upstate NY outside of Buffalo..also worried sand wont be warm enough for winter but others say it will be fine..people in Cooneticut use it year round......so what I am looking for is anyone in the out skirts of Buffalo NY that use sand so they can tell me exactly where to get it from ( sand ) and what type.. I am also worried about silica in it.. I hear everyone say playground sand is NOT good to use...that it should be coarse construction type... HELP!!

 

[4 the Birds]

A lot of threads about sand. The silica dust can be bad for the respiratory system so try to find sand without much. They say that even silica free playground sand has small amounts. Buy what works economically for you and keep the dust down and you should be fine.