Sand Floor

[bartonlynch]

If I use a sand floor in my coop, will it stay cold in the coop? The page on using sand floors says that's one of the plusses in the summer, but is it a minus in the winter?
Also, have you all had good experiences with sand flooring?
I live in Kentucky, so it's not too cold, but will it be too cold for chickens?

 

[elmo]

Chickens can't nestle into sand for warmth the way they can nestle into a bed of pine shavings. But if the chickens are roosting on a dry, draft free roost, I can't see how what's on the floor should make that much difference, anyway.

I used sand in my coop and runs last winter, and I have tiny bantams of a breed not known to be cold hardy. I was worried about them, so I brought them into our attached garage on freezing nights and bedded them down in shavings filled dog crates. I even added heat from an oil filled radiator on the coldest nights.

We had some days that stayed in the twenties as the high temperature, and because I didn't want to leave the chickens cooped up in crates all day, I let them out in the run and watched them carefully. Even my tiny birds were able to manage 20's with no problem whatsoever! And by tiny, I mean they weigh about a pound to a pound and a half.

If you have standard sized birds, I wouldn't be worried at all.

 

[bartonlynch]

so are you saying don't do sand floors at all?
Or can I just add straw to the sand in winter?

 

[CountryFried]

Are your roosts where the chickens won't be in a draft while they are sleeping? Do your chickens sleep on the floor?

I am using a sand floor, BUT, I've JUST moved my flocks into my coop, these are my first chickens, and I live in South Alabama, so it's not really all that cold. From what I gather from the elmo's post, though, if your roost isn't in a draft you will be fine. If it IS in a draft, you could just provide something (dog crate, or something similar) with a lot of pine or straw bedding for them to snuggle up in on cold nights and they should be fine.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
No, I'm not saying that. I was saying that sand worked fine for me in North Texas last winter, and I have tiny bantams that are much more sensitive to cold than a standard size chicken would be.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
If your roost is in a draft, I'd close up where the air is getting in to block off the draft. Drafts are not good in winter.