Here is the Lisa Steele article (Most of it):
When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Latest case in point: using sand in your coop, run or chick brooder. Recently I've been watching other bloggers praise the benefits of sand - how easy it is to keep clean, how much the chickens love it, etc. but I quickly discounted it because wild poultry don't choose to live at the beach. They're not seagulls after all! Just going with common sense and logical thinking, using sand in chicken keeping didn't make any sense to me.
But as more and more readers started asking my opinion on sand, trusting me to provide accurate, solid advice based on what's best for their chickens, I decided it was time to do some research. So I spoke with a long-time (30 years+) chicken keeper from a long line of chicken farmers, our vet (who not only treats but also raises chickens), and an herbalist who is also chicken keeper.
I also read a few scientific studies, reread a book or two by chicken guru Gail Damerow and listened to a very informative podcast by Dr. Peter Brown on The Chicken Whisperer's show. It turns out that my initial instinct was correct. The REAL scoop on sand is - DON'T USE IT.
While proponents of sand cite benefits such as 'it looks better', 'it's inexpensive' and 'it's easy', I don't consider ANY of those to be valid reasons to chose to use something with our animals or not.
A long time chicken keeper shared his thoughts with me that sand has NO insulating properties like straw or shavings, so in the winter will provide no help in keeping your coop warm, unlike straw which is a wonderful insulation material. Additionally, wet sand will freeze in the winter and be like hopping off the roost onto cement pavement - in fact we've heard from two readers who ended up with chickens with broken legs from doing just that.
Sure, having a truckload of sand delivered and spread in your coop sounds great. It sounds pretty much maintenance-free, other than requiring a raking out from time to time of the area under the roost mostly.
But sand retains all sorts of pathogens, and if you just periodically remove the visibly soiled portions, you're leaving a virtual breeding ground inside your coop that you can't see. When I change out the litter in our coop, I change it ALL out. Down to the floor boards. Sure, it's not my most favorite job, but it's necessary in my opinion for a healthy flock. Raising chickens isn't about what's easiest for US, but what's best for THEM.
Another important consideration, unlike straw or shavings, sand doesn't compost. So when you eventually DO need to change it out, what do you do with it? I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want a toxic pile of E.coli-laden sand piling up in my backyard where children, cats or dogs could pick up all kinds of nasty stuff from playing in it!
We use straw in our coop, which composts wonderfully. Since we use the deep litter method throughout the winter, by spring we are left with a coop full of beautifully composted 'soil', most of which is ready for our spring garden. The rest of the year, the straw goes into our compost pile to finish decomposing until spring.
in summary, sand is a bad choice for your chickens' environment for many reasons, which include:
harbors E.coli
allows coccidiosis to run rampant or in some cases eradicates it completely (both extremes are harmful)
dust can lead to respiratory/breathing problems
can lead to impacted crops
real possibility of 'breaded' feces being eaten by your flock
hot in the summer
no insulating factors in the winter
not 'green', i.e. not compostable
In our opinion, as well as that of experts we trust, the scoop on sand is ... steer clear. Far better choices for your chicken keeping are: Brooder - pine shavings, Run - dirt, Coop - pine shavings or straw
Source: Fresh-Eggs-Daily.com
So instead of tearing down my kids old playhouse/swing set we decided to transform it into a chicken coop! But I have a few questions before we go any further.....
