Proper Substrate?

[catlippincott]

Hello all!

Im picking up my chicks tonight and am trying to put together their brooder. I've seen people using pine shaving, but my neighbor said to use construction sand. I know you can do that for older chickens, but is that okay for babies? And if it is not, what age would be good to switch them to sand?

Thanks Everyone!

 

[WindyHillFarm]

Sand is fine! I like pine shavings but that's because I use them for a lot of other things around here...they just happen to be more convenient for me.

 

[manychitlens]

I use sand. I'm allergic to pine so that wasnot an option anyway, but I like the sand because I can see the poop so easily! I'm crazy about keeping things as poop free as possible, so that has been a big bonus for me.

 

[manychitlens]

I also meant to add that if you use sand, I would cover the sand in a couple of layers of paper towels or puppy pads for a week or so, because their poops are very tiny and it's much easier to clean up until they get a little bigger.