Raising baby chicks in sand?

[laurenlewis24]

I am considering raising my new flock in sand. I am switching to keeping my chickens in a stall in my barn and I have heard that raising them in sand is supposed to have more benefits than cons. I have a large barn so I don't believe the respiratory issue known with sand is a problem. They will be free range and put up at night. I was wondering if raising them from babies in sand is too much? How will the sand work with the heat lamp?

 

[DuluthHomestead]

I raising my chicks on sand. This is my first time with chicks, so I have nothing to compare it too, but so far I am really liking the sand. I can scoop the poop out every day so the brooder stays clean, and the sand dries out the poop as soon as it falls so there is very little smell. The chicks like to dig around in and nibble on the sand, and if they kick it in the water dish it just sinks to the bottom so they still have clean-ish water. The sand holds in and distributes the heat from the lamp really nicely, better than I think pine shavings would. When I raise chicks again I'm definitely going to stick with sand.

 

[EsKezzy]

did you use play sand? I was trying to find what I can use and play sand is the only sand without silica that I could find.

Just put the sand in the bottom of their cage/box and then the food and water container on top of that?

 

[Chickwhit]

I've used sand in my coop for 2 years now. I love it!!! So easy to clean. I got 6 day old Buffs in March and I tried pine shavings, after fooling with that in their brooder box for a couple of weeks I quickly changed over to sand. To clean up after the little ones I would get a reptile scoop. In the big coop I have always used a cat litter scoop. It takes me about 3-5 minutes to clean, water, feed then its play time with my birds. I will never change from sand. During the hottest part of the summer I dampen their sand to help cool things off. I can usually get the temp to drop about 5-10 degrees doing this. The sand is usually dry by the time night comes so I don't have to worry about dampness when they are shut in. They will often come in during the day to "bath" in the damp sand.