I'm not trying to persuade anyone to use sand who does not wish to use it, but I do want to make sure that that the facts are known about sand- inaccurate information and specious arguments against the use of sand for the sake of argument serve no one well when trying to care for chickens. Modern day pet chickens are not jungle fowl and that argument is completely invalid when discussing backyard chickens.
Nobody advocates using beach sand, nobody claims sand lends a carbon or nitrogen source to compost and the primary purpose of chicken litter is NOT pasturing (foraging for bugs, etc). The primary purpose of chicken coop litter is to keep the flock's living conditions dry. I have been using sand in my New England chicken coops (wood floors, no less) for years and it is IDEAL in cold climates for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it keeps chicken coops cleaner and drier than any other litter type. Chicken coop litter is not a blanket that the birds pull up over themselves to keep warm- that's what their feathers are for and they can best achieve that with a dry coop. The fact is: sand retains warmth better than any other bedding and given its high thermal mass, keeps coop temperatures more stable than other litter choices. Sand is an outstanding choice in the winter because it evaporates moisture more rapidly than other litter and stays drier, reducing the risk of frostbite.
