Sand and other litter

[BroodyMama1]

So I currently use hay for my cooo but I have been reading about sand and deep littering. Could I have a detailed explanation of that how to do it and what exact kinds to buy?

 

[Sunny-Side Up]

Sand is good because it provides got for your chickens and excellent drainage. To clean it, you can use a sand sifter. However, it's not the warmest method.
I would highly recommend pine wood shavings, because they don't get matted down easily, they absorb things, they smell good, and they're easy to clean. However, they are expensive and they don't compost easily. If you get wood shavings, make sure that they're pine because some wood shavings are toxic to chickens.
You can also use dried leaves or grass, but those aren't the best.

 

[BroodyMama1]

I definitely can’t do a pricy method. What kind of sand?

 

[Folly's place]

People who use sand tend to live in very dry climates, have four chickens, and love to scoop poo daily. There are many on this site who try sand and give it up!
Bagged shavings, bedded deep, with dried leaves, grass clippings, and some hay or straw, work much better as deep bedding, or deep composting litter. Cleaning the coop once or twice a year beats daily scooping!
It's also not expensive.
Just go ahead and try something, and see how you like it. I'd just recommend litter rather than sand.
Mary

 

[Cryss]

Pine shavings are cheap. It com es in a huge ch impressed brick type bale that costs like 6 bucks. I've had my chickens 3 1/2 months and I still haven't finished my first bale. I toss soiled bits into the run where it decomposes into compost. Good stuff.

 

[Speckledyhen]

I have a coop that is small and insulated, inside a run inside a woodshed. When we moved the chick outside we used dry bagged in paper leaves that we had in the shed from fall, by themselves they mat down quickly and the pulleys were in the small coop a lot and only outside a couple of hours( if we were home ) a day. I started mixing them with shavings now I am out of leaves so am use them only. Sometimes I put in some cut pine branch’s or thyme steams for smell nibbling and for warding of bugs. We still have leaves in the inside run pretty deep and the girls go out all day so weekly cleaning of the coop is what I have been doing. I had read about sand and was thinking about putting playsand in it but I don’t think it would work in winter here.the leaves are cosy.

 

[Molpet]

I save and use dried lawn grass, leaves, garden waste.. pretty much have my compost pile in the poultry yard.. they love the bugs