Reasons NOT to use sand in a chicken coop or run

[Sunshine Flock]

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.

Ha, private indoor beach!

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I live on a sand dune.

I've always wondered if a sand dune is solid sand or if there's earth underneath. How do you anchor structures? Is there surface soil?

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Very wise, Wise Woman.

I, too, was swayed by the sand is bliss camp. Honestly, I really do understand why people love it. But there are hazards, and it is indeed wasteful.

But one argument I read from a city dweller is a small backyard and problems maintaining a compost pile. For the sake of appeasing the neighbors, she opted for sand, and for her busy lifestyle, it made keeping chickens easier for her.

I'm here, though, to encourage people on the fence to start with shavings or mulch. It's a simple step to convert to sand, but not so simple to put that wagon in reverse.

If you're short on mulch materials, ask your city about leaf cleanup in the fall. You can gather several bags for free, or pick up pre-bagged leaves, and use them in the coop, along with other things like grass clippings.

ETA: As for how to get rid of the sand, post it for free on Craigslist. Someone will likely take it for an underlay on a driveway or pathway, even if it was used for chickens.

 

[venymae]

Our sand is river sand. I use it for grit, not in the coop, but that's just because I love deep litter method so much I never wanted to try anything else. And the run is leaf, grass and wood mulch. They like it a lot!

 

[Wise Woman]

ETA: As for how to get rid of the sand, post it for free on Craigslist. Someone will likely take it for an underlay on a driveway or pathway, even if it was used for chickens.[/QUOTE]

Great idea. Thanks. Maybe we could put it in our driveway. We are due to get a large load of gravel anyway.

 

[R2elk]

I've always wondered if a sand dune is solid sand or if there's earth underneath. How do you anchor structures? Is there surface soil?

A sand dune here consists of blow sand. Blow sand is a mixture of primarily sand and fine dust. Blow sand compacts better than any other type of soil. The surface is blow sand. None of the concrete work here ever had a crack in it for approximately 30 years. Unfortunately there was an earthquake nearby at that time so now there are cracks.

Sand drains extremely well so there are no drainage problems.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

So, I would imagine that blow sand is more angular so that it can compact together? I'm very curious about this! Thanks for sharing.

 

[igorsMistress]

I like my deep litter with a poop board. I'd read that people had problems with DL here in the desert, but so far so good.
The poop board is really to keep poop off the concrete blocks that are the foundation of our coop. I just clean it out once a week and mix into the litter on the floor. I have pine shavings on it not litter or sand.
I see the benefits of both, but I need to improve my soil and sand won't give me material for the compost pile. It's also far too dusty for me and we don't get enough rain that we have to worry about drainage. I can see how in some climates it could work out great though.
I did try the sand for dust bathing, but my chickens would rather use regular old dirt in the yard.