Sand in brooder

[lillylsj]

i love this thread and i think i am going to switch to sand

 

[333dawn333]

I use sand in the brooders and the coop. It dries quickly and the day old chicks seem to love it. I retrofit a cat scoop with very small mesh wire (screen) works great!!!

 

[shellyjimrye]

Our chicks arrive tomorrow and we have decided to go with sand for all the reasons listed. I wanted to know how deep/thick you all use for the sand? I have heard anything from 1 inch to 4 inches? That is a huge difference in amount when you think about it. We have around 2 inches in the base already warming to ensure that is all dry when the new chicks arrive. Just cant wait I am so excited!

 

[EsKezzy]

Those who used play sand - did it work out ok?

 

[shellyjimrye]

It has worked out amazing for me. It is a nice warm base for the chicks. Moisture does not linger in the base. There is little to zero odour in the coop. Easily cleaned up. I could not be happier with the choice to go to Sand!

 

[shellyjimrye]

It has worked out amazing for me. It is a nice warm base for the chicks. Moisture does not linger in the base. There is little to zero odour in the coop. Easily cleaned up. I could not be happier with the choice to go to Sand!

 

[EsKezzy]

I'm hoping to find some larger sand tomorrow without the silica. Everything I saw at Home depot had the warning for silica

do yours try to eat the sand a lot? I have 2 who seem to be obsessed with it. I wasn't sure if they were eating too much so I covered it with the shavings - the two will dig until they find it (a little funny when they are digging opposite of each other, refilling each other's hole). I don't think they eat it as much as they used to, but they sure want to find it.

 

[shellyjimrye]

I started by covering the sand with paper and slowly removed pieces until just before two weeks they were fully on the sand. Just like all chickens, some will be fascinated by something and then others will not even glance at it. I would not worry about the chicks eating the sand (mine do that too) for it is grit and helps with digestion. I would worry if they are not eating any of the chick feed and filling up on the sand. I made sure the chicks know where the food was and that they were eating that as their feed, the sand is just a fun base to dig around in and peck at! Wait till they do sand baths, you will pee your pants laughing at the little fuzzies fluffing around in the sand! Soooo cute!

 

[EsKezzy]

thanks. I was just reading in Susan Damerow and she said to use play sand.

I have shavings over the little sand I put in there and they just want to get to the sand and the shavings are ending up in their water dish - making a huge mess and clogging it up so they can't get water. After changing the water every 2 hours for the past 24 hours, I'm thinking shavings are not working for my girls.

 

[loveseramas]

Sand it's working for me! love it! easy to clean and does not smell. easy to scoop the poop out, clean in two minutes.
I use natural play sand, it's like brownish, literally from the beach sandy nice golden, do not use chemically cleaned sand, that stuff is bad.