Sand Coop

[havi]

Ive seen a couple of people using sand(?) in their coops. How well does this work? Ive been using pine shavings, but would like to find something cheaper and easier to clean.

 

[chickenfanatic]

hahah i mix the two hahaha guess we couldnt decide

 

[PAChickenChick]

Ok...so here's my 2¢....

I've picked the minds of some of the regulars here and I've come away with SAND as being a wonderful bedding.

1- it is good on the chickens feet and keeps them cool.
2- if they eat it, it will now become "grit" for them
3- it works well with water and dries out well
4- it dries out the poop so that it keeps smells down
5- the poop can be "sifted" out and the sand can stay
5a- poop without anything else stuck to it can be put in water and stirred up to make "tea" for the garden.
6- it's cheep...I mean cheap...lol
7- it cuts down on the dust
8- the chickens can use it to "dust bathe" in

there are only two down sides that I can think of...

1- sand fleas (not an issue depending on where the sand came from and could easily be taken care of with a little sprinkle of DE mixed into sand)
2- if you give the chickens food besides for seed/crumble..you would have to be sure it didn't get buried in the sand and then rot. (but you'd probably scoop this up too when poop scooping)

Anyway... this is just my opinion

 

[rebbetzin]

So are you using "sandbox" sand (very fine like beach sand) or the course sand with little stones in it?

 

[Buff Hooligans]

We have a sand run. My observation is that the fresh moist poo gets trod on and becomes part of the sand, turning the sand eventually into real soil.

If I were to try a layer of sand on the floor of our coop, I would take care to "Kitty litter" scoop it out every day. But it sure does sound like a good idea. Maybe I'll try it.

 

[Sylvie]

Sand sounds good and it is cheap and plentiful where I live. It gets really cold in winter and I wonder if it works as good in northern states as it would in a southern state for the hen house.

 

[AllChookUp]

I have sand in the run. Our soil is naturally very sandy (not the best for gardening), and all the traffic from the chickens turns it into an even finer sand. It works great.

That said, I use pine shavings in the coop. It does get dusty, but I like it overall.


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[precipice]

We have sand in the run area and it's been great. I could see it being a problem if you were in a very rainy area (Seattle, say) and the chickens didn't have a good place for a dust bath. However, if the sand has a bit to dry out pretty often, it shouldn't be an issue.

About once a week I rake the sand clean and scoop out whatever made it in over the week.

 

[JennsPeeps]

I'm in the Seattle area. Any recommendations for a rainy climate run litter?

 

[havi]

Sounds like I'll be using sand soon. Thanks for all the great feedback!

Right now I have some sand in my backyard from where the prev. owners had a pool. But after that is used up where can you buy sand? Somewhere like Lowes or something? A while back when my two kittens where indoors I thought about trying to find something to use for chickens that was similar to the kitty litter. That way when it gets dirty all you have to do is scoop it out. Sounds so easy!