Pros and Cons for using sand

[CyndiD]

Hi, excuse me, i am too slow a reader to read ALL these post.
My Q's are:
1. What are the smallest & largest size of grit/sand/pebbles Ducks can ea for a grit? My husband bought me some #2 grit & i thought is was too big for my 4,5 & 6 week old ducklings? Do u think it is too big?
2. Can i give my ducklings, & my 1 yr old runners play sand as grit?
Thank you for ur replies.

 

[DMRippy]

Hi, excuse me, i am too slow a reader to read ALL these post.
My Q's are:
1. What are the smallest & largest size of grit/sand/pebbles Ducks can ea for a grit? My husband bought me some #2 grit & i thought is was too big for my 4,5 & 6 week old ducklings? Do u think it is too big?
2. Can i give my ducklings, & my 1 yr old runners play sand as grit?
Thank you for ur replies.

You might want to ask those questions on a duck thread.

 

[CyndiD]

You might want to ask those questions on a duck thread. 

Thank u for ur reply, i thought this was a duck/chicken site, sorry

 

[cavemanrich]

Quote: No need to be sorry. Ask with no fear. Don't be pushed away because someone does not have the answer. I have been beat up before.

Here is my opinion. Avoid play sand. Give the more course sand to your ducks. Your ducks will know if they want to ingest it or not. I am assuming you will not be force feeding that sand like force feeding foie gras style.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

OK I just read this thread. Here is my experience.

I tried using play sand for about a year (?) and it worked well. But it was $5 a bag and that didn't sit well with me so I got a delivery of washed sand from the yard and garden place down the roa
d. I keep a tarp over it and that has been a wonderful thing- has lasted more than a year- maybe two years now and I don't know when I will ever need another delivery LOL. The pile never seems to go away.

I use a kitty litter scoop every day to remove all the poo and I wear an N95 mask as breathing sand is VERY bad. All of you folks sifting sand need to be wearing a respirator mask. They are a bit expensive but it is best to not let that stuff get in your lungs while you are stirring up the dust. I have found them for sale for $1 each on internet...maybe you can find a better deal that that.

My girls have a perfectly clean coop every day and I love that.

Back in the day I used pine shavings I had terrible troubles with mites and mold/ammonia. The litter would get wet around the edges of the shed where the rain pounded in, and I just couldn't keep it from turning bad. We have fog here a lot, and moist air such that the north side of the houses gets moldy and the roof gets moss on it.

I even use sand in the nestboxes now and I scoop those every day as well, since there is one hen who likes to sleep in there every night.

Sand has saved my family soooo much money. I used to buy so many pine shavings. I tried sweet PDZ but found that after I tried just sand that is all I needed for my situation.

I hope this helps someone!

 

[cavemanrich]

OK I just read this thread. Here is my experience.



I tried using play sand for about a year (?) and it worked well. But it was $5 a bag and that didn't sit well with me so I got a delivery of washed sand from the yard and garden place down the roa
d. I keep a tarp over it and that has been a wonderful thing- has lasted more than a year- maybe two years now and I don't know when I will ever need another delivery LOL. The pile never seems to go away.



I use a kitty litter scoop every day to remove all the poo and I wear an N95 mask as breathing sand is VERY bad. All of you folks sifting sand need to be wearing a respirator mask. They are a bit expensive but it is best to not let that stuff get in your lungs while you are stirring up the dust. I have found them for sale for $1 each on internet...maybe you can find a better deal that that.



My girls have a perfectly clean coop every day and I love that.



Back in the day I used pine shavings I had terrible troubles with mites and mold/ammonia. The litter would get wet around the edges of the shed where the rain pounded in, and I just couldn't keep it from turning bad. We have fog here a lot, and moist air such that the north side of the houses gets moldy and the roof gets moss on it.



I even use sand in the nestboxes now and I scoop those every day as well, since there is one hen who likes to sleep in there every night.



Sand has saved my family soooo much money. I used to buy so many pine shavings. I tried sweet PDZ but found that after I tried just sand that is all I needed for my situation.



I hope this helps someone!

I am glad you are a common sense person that did not drink the """ sand is bad cool aid """ Am very much aware that ALL DUST IS BEST TO AVOID. Also the fear put into those that play sand is manufactured from crushed glass has not been proven ether. Yes. there is a product made from crushed glass. It is called glass shot. It is used in equipment like sandblasting cabinets. Extremely useful since it does not damage your item being cleaned. Stuff is not CHEAP. Don't think play sand distributors are purposely adding it to their play sand bags. GIVE THIS SOME THOUGHT. One person tells a BS lie to another. Second person forwards story to third person. Third person believes second person because has no reason to doubt. Third person professes story as fact.

After reading this please go back to my statement which is BASED ON FACT.. ALL DUST IS BEST TO AVOID.

 

[Diannastarr]

Quote:
GOSH from what i have been told never use play sand for any birds it can kill them if they eat it, and can harm children's lungs as well , because play sand is sillca & SILICA can kill birds .& harm children ,i believe it has a warning label on the bottom of the bags ..??? I also found this NIOSH REL: 0.05 mg/m 3 TWA; NIOSH considers crystalline silica to be a potential occupational carcinogen as defined by the OSHA ...

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
GOSH from what i have been told never use play sand for any birds it can kill them if they eat it, and can harm children's lungs as well , because play sand is sillca & SILICA can kill birds .& harm children ,i believe it has a warning label on the bottom of the bags ..??? I also found this NIOSH REL: 0.05 mg/m 3 TWA; NIOSH considers crystalline silica to be a potential occupational carcinogen as defined by the OSHA ...
That was a question of GRIT not sand. I doubt sand would help with digestion.

I think your information is backwards. Reg sand has silica not play sand. Why would they make PLAY sand if it had something more harmful than reg sand?

 

[jeff smith]

hi, grit is really over sold to the public. If poultry are on a formulated feed then it has enough grit in the feed for eating that type of formulated feed. If the poultry are free ranged then they get enough grit just from all the things they dig in the dirt and eat. I also don't recommend sand as litter because over time the poultry eat too much of it and impact their digestive system and they can't pass it fast enough. Large pine shaving or clean straw are still the best bet for litter in the chicken house in my opinion. Water fowl don't need grit-just a lot of water all the time to keep their normal digestive system going well.

 

[DMRippy]

hi, grit is really over sold to the public. If poultry are on a formulated feed then it has enough grit in the feed for eating that type of formulated feed. If the poultry are free ranged then they get enough grit just from all the things they dig in the dirt and eat. I also don't recommend sand as litter because over time the poultry eat too much of it and impact their digestive system and they can't pass it fast enough. Large pine shaving or clean straw are still the best bet for litter in the chicken house in my opinion. Water fowl don't need grit-just a lot of water all the time to keep their normal digestive system going well.

Pine shavings and straw are the WORST. I don't even like using them where I have to like a brooder box. I used pine shavings IN my coops and it was pushed out into the run..... made a nasty slick wet barrier that water couldn't drain through. Turned black, smelled just not a good thing in a run that is outside. I have been using creek rock. It is really heavy and hard to clean. I am going to change over to sand as soon as I can. Hubby is not convinced it will help but it can't be any worse.