Sand in coop in humid climate?

[topochico225]

Hi everyone!

I live in Baton Rouge, LA and I was wondering if sand is a good idea for coop bedding. I use aspen shavings mixed with zeolite in the coop and timothy hay in the nesting box. I like to use hay in the nesting box, but sand would majorly decrease the amount of deep cleaning I'd have to do and amount of dust in the coop, I'd just need to poop-scoop.

Is sand a good idea in such a hot, humid climate? My coop is an Omlet Eglu, so the birds are not standing on the bedding itself but rather on a plastic roost grid above it.

TIA!

 

[cavemanrich]

Sand will work for you. I know your concerns with humidity. I don't see sand as absorbing the humidity and getting wet. Sand does drain well when it gets wet from rain. then it dries. (regardless of humidity)
Give it a try, and see how you like it. Get the course grade sand, as it is less likely to be dusty. Use a kitty litter snooper to clean out the gumdrops.

I have some sand in my run area. Inside my coop, I use hay, (Timothy, or alfalfa) ,, I do what is called "Deep Bedding" It is different from DLM, as I do not want composting to occur inside my coop. I clean out 2 times per year. I only keep 6 to 8 pet chickens, (half are Banties) so not a heavy dung load to deal with.
My chickens are out of coop and in run most of the day. The run is covered overhead, and stays dry. Chickens do enter to lay eggs. Then they go to sleep at roost time.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[3KillerBs]

Sand seems to work best in an absolutely dry environment and when maintained by meticulous scooping.

I'm a great fan of Deep Bedding. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

I put a post up recently about sand vs shavings and the general answer I received was unless it’s really dry - like 30% humidity - it won’t do well.
Based on cost I’m leaning towards shavings and sand will require daily cleaning where shavings will not.
However you’ve already done shavings you can always give sand a go and if it doesn’t work go back to shavings.

 

[neo71665]

I'm about 2.5 to 3 hours from Monroe (north). I tried sand and will say it didn't take me long to get rid of it. Way too humid here.

 

[3KillerBs]

However you’ve already done shavings you can always give sand a go and if it doesn’t work go back to shavings.

Yep.

There's no great harm done in trying a different method if a person thinks it might work better. No one practice is best for everyone and the best way to find out is to try it.

 

[topochico225]

Spoiler alert: it was very, very bad. Y'all dry climates can take your sand

 

[cavemanrich]

Spoiler alert: it was very, very bad. Y'all dry climates can take your sand

So tell us more of what the results were, and what was happening.
Am sure you can drop sand in run, and all should be well there.

 

[topochico225]

So tell us more of what the results were, and what was happening.
Am sure you can drop sand in run, and all should be well there.

If the sand got the tiniest bit wet, it would not dry at all. Even though I scooped the poop frequently, flies were swarming the coop. When I gave up and dumped the whole thing in the compost/flower beds, I discovered that some enterprising ants had populated the very bottom layer. I switched back to aspen shavings.

 

[cavemanrich]

Look at the positive,,,, if you did not try,,,,, you would not know.
I use hay as my bedding inside coop, because chickens can eat some of the alfalfa. I prefer it to pine shavings, which I do have. Aspen shavings are good, but considerably more ka$h.
BTW,,,, we drink this too. Up North. I don't share with my chickies

Spoiler: Grapefruit flavored.