How often to clean brooder with sand

[Fancy_Feathers]

I am new to owning chickens and my baby chicks will be getting here soon . I am pretty sure I want to use construction grade sand in the brooder but I am not sure how often I will need to clean it, I know you have to clean out pine shavings every 3 days or so but I am not sure if it is the same for sand. Thanks!

 

[CluckerFamily]

I believe, people that have sand in coops clean it daily. I’m not sure about the brooder.

 

[Fancy_Feathers]

Thanks for the reply! I will spot clean it daily- using a cat litter scooper to scoop up their droppings. Do you know how often I should fully replace the bedding with clean sand?

 

[Aapomp831]

I would not use sand in the brooder... wait and use that in the coop when they are older.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Thanks for the reply! I will spot clean it daily- using a cat litter scooper to scoop up their droppings. Do you know how often I should fully replace the bedding with clean sand?

I don’t know. I use pine shavings.
I’m not sure if sand would be smeller since sand can stay damp for a long time.

 

[Fancy_Feathers]

I have heard of sand being dangerous for chicks but I have also heard it doesn't hold as much bacteria as shavings or hay/straw, but I am really not sure what to use. I will be using an EcoGlow heater so the sand won't get hot from heat lamps but I am nervous about the chicks eating it and getting impacted crops, but I have also heard that wood shavings get kicked all over the place and can get wet from droppings which can create humidity and illness. I am super torn, I might do wood shavings instead but I don't really know what I should do

 

[Fancy_Feathers]

I don’t know. I use pine shavings.
I’m not sure if sand would be smeller since sand can stay damp for a long time.

Hmm, I never thought of that before. I am starting to think pine shavings is the way to go instead of sand...

 

[Disheygirl]

I have heard of sand being dangerous for chicks but I have also heard it doesn't hold as much bacteria as shavings or hay/straw, but I am really not sure what to use. I will be using an EcoGlow heater so the sand won't get hot from heat lamps but I am nervous about the chicks eating it and getting impacted crops, but I have also heard that wood shavings get kicked all over the place and can get wet from droppings which can create humidity and illness. I am super torn, I might do wood shavings instead but I don't really know what I should do

I used hemp and coffee grounds I bought from the chick place (a local agrarian farm store we have here) mixed 50/50. Worked like a dream.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Do you have a plan for the brooder structure?

 

[Fancy_Feathers]

Do you have a plan for the brooder structure?

Yes, we are going to use these cube storage things that we have from a while ago. We aren't going to use them as cubes though, we are going to use them as the sides of the brooder. The holes are 1.5" x 1.5" big and I am not sure if the chicks can fit through them, so we might but hardware cloth or something over the squares. We aren't super sure what we are going to use for the floor and how to keep the bedding in, does anyone have suggestions for that? The brooder is 5' x 3' with 2' high sides.