Sand in coop.

[JensChickies]

I want to try sand in my girl's coop, but I'm not entirely sure what kind of sand to get. I read river sand is best?? Not too sure. Does it need to be washed?

 

[Messipaw]

I used Concrete brand sand. It's lots of different sizes. Nothing sharp and it's not play sand. I love it. It's the base of my coop bedding and is mixed with PDZ and DE. It scoops nice and doesn't smell. In the winter I add pine needles, leaves and wood chips. My hens dust bath in it as well.
They are happy and so am I.

 

[WNCcluck]

We use sand / PDZ combo in both the coop and run. Sand will clump when it's wet. PDZ is a natural desiccant and helps keep ordinary contractor's sand from clumping. It also makes the coop a snap to clean with a small rake and kitty litter scoop.

You'll want to get contractor's sand from any home improvement store or river sand from a gravel yard. I don't recommend play sand since it's fine enough to present some respiratory hazards. If you or anyone in your family has breathing difficulties, you might want to rethink the sand idea. We love it in our coop.

 

[JensChickies]

We use sand / PDZ combo in both the coop and run. Sand will clump when it's wet. PDZ is a natural desiccant and helps keep ordinary contractor's sand from clumping. It also makes the coop a snap to clean with a small rake and kitty litter scoop.

You'll want to get contractor's sand from any home improvement store or river sand from a gravel yard. I don't recommend play sand since it's fine enough to present some respiratory hazards. If you or anyone in your family has breathing difficulties, you might want to rethink the sand idea. We love it in our coop.

Thank you so much. I haven't found my perfect bedding yet. I have tried straw... Its ok. Pine shaving, currently not working out. Plus I think the dust is irritating one of my hens eyes. So on to sand I go. Does it keep warm at all???

 

[olgreyhair]

We've been using sand in the coop and run. Now that we're in the depths of winter we have put straw in the coop for warmth. As soon as the weather warms we'll go back to pure sand. Very easy to keep clean. you'll like it. G

 

[JensChickies]

Ok......so I put some sand in.....construction sand. I must say I like how clean it looks.

 

[WNCcluck]

We use sand / PDZ combo in both the coop and run. Sand will clump when it's wet. PDZ is a natural desiccant and helps keep ordinary contractor's sand from clumping. It also makes the coop a snap to clean with a small rake and kitty litter scoop.

You'll want to get contractor's sand from any home improvement store or river sand from a gravel yard. I don't recommend play sand since it's fine enough to present some respiratory hazards. If you or anyone in your family has breathing difficulties, you might want to rethink the sand idea. We love it in our coop.

Thank you so much. I haven't found my perfect bedding yet. I have tried straw... Its ok. Pine shaving, currently not working out. Plus I think the dust is irritating one of my hens eyes. So on to sand I go. Does it keep warm at all???

Sand is not a good insulator. We still use it in both the coop and run because we can keep it dry. The lowest temps we'll see here are in the -5* range. It's not unusual for us to have weeks that don't get above freezing. The good news is that cold here usually comes with bright blue skies, so we still have some good solar effects. All that is to say that we've had no problems with our hens and the cold. All the hens sleep on roosts - not on the sand - and the nesting boxes have pine shavings which provide a comfortable place for laying.

 

[JensChickies]

Sand is not a good insulator. We still use it in both the coop and run because we can keep it dry. The lowest temps we'll see here are in the -5* range. It's not unusual for us to have weeks that don't get above freezing. The good news is that cold here usually comes with bright blue skies, so we still have some good solar effects. All that is to say that we've had no problems with our hens and the cold. All the hens sleep on roosts - not on the sand - and the nesting boxes have pine shavings which provide a comfortable place for laying.

Yes I put hay in the nesting boxes too. Luckily none of my girls lay on the floor of their coop. I only have one with a habit of sleeping in the nesting boxes. I live in California so the winters here don't get extremely cold....maybe 30 at night on the coldest of nights.