Sand In Coop

[slaughter170]

I am on my way to get sand for my newly built coop. How deep should I put it inside the coop initially? I thought I read 6" a while back, but whe I went to double check today I couldn't find it. Thanks for the help! The chicks are almost big enough to put outside, out of my HOUSE!

 

[Chicken Chat]

I'm not sure how much you are suppose to have but I have around 4 inches deep in my coop. It works great!

 

[elmo]

You don't have to use a particular depth; it's not like the "deep litter" method in which the bottom layers will be composting. You'll want to put in a thick enough layer so that you'll be able to clean up the droppings, though. I put about an inch or two down on the floor of my coop. I use a thicker layer in the run because that gets more use. My chickens are only inside this coop during the night during the winter.

 

[kichohana]

i have wood shavings in my coop, and about 5" sand in my run. the girls love to dust bathe in it, and they've dug all the way through to the dirt underneath in the corners of the run. they wiggle their big fluffy butts down into these holes they scratch out in the sand. i think it must be cooler for them - their run is covered and completely in the shade. cleans easilywith a kid-size garden rake and a giant kitty-litter scoop from the dollar store.

 

[JimWWhite]

We layed down about 2 inches of Crush & Run which is course sand and gravel they use for driveways and lanes here in NC. Then we layed in another 3 inches of course sand on top of that. It really does keep the mud down plus it's a snap to clean by just taking a sharp pointed hoe and turning it in like a plow. Next spring I'm planning on taking out the top inch of so of it and replacing it with fresh sand. The old sand will go on my garden. And as someone else said the Gals love to sand bathe in it. We have a covered run and even on cold wet days last winter and spring they would be out there laying in their holes they scratched out. They were some happy chickens...