Insulating qualities of sand?

[Yetti]

A couple of ideas that may settle some of the arguments against sand. yes sand has very little insulating qualities by its self, BUT if you insulate under it there would be no reason not to use it. if you have an elevated floor that does not contact the ground then yes if its wet it will freeze solid like a brick. if its clean and dry it will stay loose and the air spaces between the sand grains are the tiny bit of insulating effect it has. if you use a 1" Extruded Foam board under it you will gain an R factor of 5. plus sand & plywood you would have about an R8 total.

If you have a sand layer on the ground its going to draw up moisture. inside a building its like a green house and the sand will radiate water upwards into a warm space. if the ground freezes and there is no thermal break then it will freeze the sand solid. SO that being said you need to create a thermal break if using sand in winter. I suggest using a layer of course gravel, pee stone or rock. then by putting a landscape fabric over that then sand it will create an air space big enough that it should breath and stay dry and out of contact with the ground.

 

[hannalice]

Thanks for the responses, guys! I'll just stick with the pine shavings, in that case- I'm on a bit of a budget, and my girls did pretty well last winter, all told. Just wanted to confirm what I'd guessed about sand, and I'll keep it for my run, not the coop.

 

[tammybur]

Hi there,

I'm not sure what to use either. I have heard to use contracters sand (i think is th name) because it has little pebbles in it to help digest their food. Or can I just use play sand. We have a grass and a little spot of dirt, thanks to the chicks.

Thanks,

Tammy

 

[ben is a terror]

I use contractors sand it's cheaper than play sand. I just clean out the sand dump it in the run and put down shavings In spring the shavings go in the garden

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
No, I'm sorry to disagree but you are mistaken.

The problem is that even if coop air temperature is a relatively mild 25 F, standing on SAND that is 25 F is much much colder on chickens' feet than standing on SHAVINGS (etc) that are the same 25 F. Because sand has a relatively high thermal mass and high conductivity, it sucks the heat outta the chickens feet real fast, whereas shavings have low thermal mass AND low conductivity (b/c of the air spaces and fluffiness).

Also for the first part of the winter a sand floor will actually be warmer if there is NO insulation under it than if there IS (b/c it will partake of the heat of the ground, with its very large thermal inertia, not just tracking air temperature)

Pat

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Small pebbles in sand aren't really the best thing for grit because the stones are usually rounded. Poultry grit that you buy is made from granite chips having rough, irregular surfaces which is perfect for what the chicken needs it for. It's cheap, too. A 5 lb bag lasts a very long time.