Reasons NOT to use sand in a chicken coop or run

[Sunshine Flock]

This is my first year raising chickens, but I wasn't hatched from an egg yesterday.

From my months of research, I've learned that lots of folks love sand in the coop or run. For the same reason I don't use clay kitty litter, I refuse to use sand: it's not compostable, and it has a carbon footprint.

And sand can harbor disease. There are different kinds of sand. The news stories I've come across over the years were specific to playground sand. A courser sand is recommended for coops, but my instincts tell me there's still a legitimate concern.

Also, sand is VERY heavy. You may only swap it out once or twice a year, but then what? You have to roll a heavy wheelbarrow somewhere and dump it or take the sand to the landfill, as I've read one blogger does. Some say it's safe to wash it and reuse.

Voila! An eco-friendly litter!!

I say a big nope to that, and here's why: water is a valuable resource. If you're a homesteader on an actual homestead, or a city dwelling homesteader, expending a resource to maintain chicken litter is wasteful. And think about the sand's point of origin and what was involved crushing raw material and delivering it to your local yard supply outfit.

Don't take from below the earth; use what's already on the surface!

It's my guess chicken folks are also veggie garden folks, so raising chickens shouldn't be just about the meat and eggs. They also give us beautiful compost, and even in a small backyard that compost is easy to create and, with the deep litter method, virtually odor free.

Just say no to sand, folks, and put those birds to work!!

 

[Suzi18]

I love sand. Scoop it out daily and throw on to the compost pile. If you use a kitty litter scoop the sand doesn't end up in the compost....just the poop

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I use sand in my turkey shed. It's easy to pick out poop daily and top off yearly. I dump my poop in a compost pile that turns into good digging for my chickens. If done right for the right situation it's a good alternative.

 

[TattooedChicks]

After trying a few other methods I found river/ tube sand to be the easiest on me and my bantams. It’s quick to clean, their feet stay tidy and exfoliated, dried herbs last forever once mixed in, they love to dust bathe in the sunny spot by the hatch, and it should never really need to be replaced, only topped off. I could see why it wouldn’t work for everyone, and it has its problems, but I’ll keep on scooping the big old litter box every week until my birds tell me they hate their little private indoor beach.

 

[Alicat4244]

I have sand in my coop and love it

 

[R2elk]

it has a carbon footprint.

And think about the sand's point of origin and what was involved crushing raw material and delivering it to your local yard supply outfit.

Don't take from below the earth; use what's already on the surface!

I live on a sand dune. The only carbon footprint my sand has is the effort it takes me to physically move it from one place to another.

My sand's point of origin is from years of wind erosion. There was no crushing raw material or delivery to a supply outfit. There is no taking from below the earth since the surface here is sand.

In fact most sand is not produced through a crushing operation since nature has given the world a bountiful supply of sand.

There is no hauling of used sand to a dump since everything here is sand. The only typical relocation of sand that I do is to remove it from the brooder and replace it with fresh sand from my endless supply.

The nicest thing about living on a sand dune once it has been stabilized with plant growth is that no matter how much it rains, I never have any mud.

My coops were built right on the "ground" meaning that my coop floors are sand. I will continue to use sand.

 

[sourland]

I used a mixture of sand and organic material (mulch) to lighten up the heavy clay soil of my garden.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I know this is somewhat of a controversial topic. I've even seen angry comments online in defense of both stances.

But I posted this on the off chance I can help sway someone to use pine shavings or local mulch, or even leaves and pine needles from their own neighborhood or yard.

Happy chickening, folks, no matter which method you choose!!

 

[Wise Woman]

I have said it before and I will say it again. I hate sand. Got swayed in 2012 by all the sand is fabulous posts and within a few weeks I was sorry. I had 5 chickens die in a very short time after putting sand in my coop and it when winter arrived, it was like having a 6' by 10' litter box. Plus I was dumb enough to install poop boards as well, so with 18 chickens, you can imagine what my mornings were spent doing. Oh, and the smell was atrocious.

I went back to using pine shavings, leaves and bark mulch when I can get it ground fine enough. No more smell and no more litter box scooping. I clean out the coop and it goes into the run. About twice a year we rake out the run and it goes into the compost pile. Easy peasy.

I do not know why I listened to all of this sand talk. Now I have a coop full of sand (I did put pine shavings over the sand but it is still sitting there waiting...) and I have no idea how we are going to get it out, except to remove it one shovel full at a time, which my husband is not going to love, and I have no idea where we are going to put it when we do get it out. I could just smack myself for doing this.

 

[aart]

Agrees that sand is not a good bedding substrate in large quantities.

Use it mixed with PDZ in the brooder.
Sand and poop make 'cement' that sticks to chicks feet and especially their toenails.
Yes, easy to scoop poop but hard to get it all, eventually it became saturated with Pulverized Poop. I did try 'washing' it couldn't get all the PP out and it still stank.
Used it to fill holes in lawn from an auto accident.
I still use it in brooder, but they are only in it for a week or so before moving to coop,
and I use the 'dirty' brooder sand mix on poop boards in coop...where it does perform well.

I keep the level PDZ/sand mix on poop board only at less than a half inch and fully sift all the 'sand' mix every day or two, never have to 'replace' it just replenish as some gets kicked off and the rest sticks to poop and goes to compost. Am moving to straight PDZ as I can't find a good(washed and coarse with no dirt/dust) sand anymore.

I learned a lot about sand while making my own concrete mixes for sculpture years ago; I used different cements, different sands, different admixes.
All the colloquial and common names for sand(river, construction, play, blahblahblah) are worthless, there's no standards, you've got to look at it very closely to know what you're getting. Made a huge difference in my concrete mixes, so I had to study it, and also applies when using for chickens.

That's my thoughts on 'sand'.