Sand for coop floor?

[CrazedGirl]

our coop is almost done and the girls (and we) are anxious to get in there!

I’m in Maryland so the seasons vary significantly. Inside of the coop I was thinking about using sand as the bedding for easier clean up- I would just rig hardware cloth to a rake.

What are opinions of using sand vs pine shavings inside of the coop?

 

[jreardon1918]

I have no experience with sand. One year of experience with... Pine shavings on the coop floor and in the nest boxes. There are poop boards with a 1/4" of Sweet PDZ. This has been great. No smell. Scoop the poop boards twice a week The pine shavings are very dry and and have very little mess. Have replaced the shavings twice, late October and again in march. The coop is small 4x8 and is not a walk in. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[CrazedGirl]

There are poop boards with a 1/4" of Sweet PDZ. This has been great. No smell. Scoop the poop boards twice a week The pine shavings are very dry and and have very little mess.

We may invest in a poop board with the sand later on; but, I also like the convenience of the sand when it is soiled compaired to the pine shavings. I was hoping more people would comment with their experiences..

 

[TheGoldenGirlz]

I would advise against sand, Poop eventually gets pulverized and smells awful.

 

[MNChickMom]

Do you see what I see?

 

[LittleMissCountry]

I use sand in the coop, but not the run. I started with pine shavings, but I had to change them all the time, and my chicks would sleep in them, and not roost.
I switched to sand and love it. My coop is raised, so the sand doesn't get wet when it rains. I scoop poo every day and it takes just a few minutes.

 

[ChickenDad921]

I live in Pennsylvania. Using pine shavings as base and straw on top of it. Coop doesn't smell. The straw defiantly helps keep the coop insulted. I do use dry herbs thru out. My girls roost with no problem. Hope it helps.

 

[bajabirdbrain]

I would advise against sand, Poop eventually gets pulverized and smells awful.

This is totally opposite from our experience. We switched over to sand after a month of shavings and have ZERO regrets. We put poop boards under the 2 roosts for the 11 girls and we clean the poop boards every morning. This takes about ONE minute and we never have any odor. We use a Folger's plastic coffee can and a cat litter shovel. The poop virtually never hits the sand. Coop is 6'x10' and the run is 10'x24 and we pick up poop in the run daily, run is dirt and, again, no odor.

 

[TheGoldenGirlz]

This is totally opposite from our experience. We switched over to sand after a month of shavings and have ZERO regrets. We put poop boards under the 2 roosts for the 11 girls and we clean the poop boards every morning. This takes about ONE minute and we never have any odor. We use a Folger's plastic coffee can and a cat litter shovel. The poop virtually never hits the sand. Coop is 6'x10' and the run is 10'x24 and we pick up poop in the run daily, run is dirt and, again, no odor.

View attachment 1422673

Having a poop board probably made it 20,000x better, I didn’t have one

 

[sirrobyn0]

I don't mean to be critical at all. Rather I'm asking this because I don't know how often pine shavings or sand needs to be replaced or added to, but my fear in something like that is cost. And after reading what I've read in this thread it seems labor intensive, as some have indicated cleaning up poo daily or multiple times a week. I've always done hay on the floor because I can get it very cheaply. I currently have 41 birds, in the chicken coop, so in comparison to someone like jreardon1918, I obviously have a much larger setup. Doing the entire floor of the coop takes maybe a 1/2 bail of hay. I use it in my nesting boxes as well, so doing the floor and all the nesting boxes, I'm still into it for less than a full bail, but even if I did use an entire bail I'd be at maybe $3 or $4, and I definately don't need to clean out the floor every week. So I'm curious about the cost of doing sand and pine shavings on the floor. Is it a clean out situation, or are you more doing like a litter box kind of thing? Not trying to highjack the thread, but perhaps the OP will find the cost comparison relevent. Thanks.