Does anyone use sand in their coop? I am fixing to put sand in the run so I'm thinking the same in the coop. Its not the big so the weight won't be too great. Right now I'm using pine bedding. Does anyone else do this or do I need to keep doing what I'm doing.
People do it all the time here are some threads: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=399647 -Post #9 https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=369931
i only have sand in my coop...my girls love it, i love it..everybodys happy..easy to clean and no smell!!!! when it gets low just put more in it..done!
Yup, I have sand in both of my coops and both of my runs. It's a cold substrate, so I wouldn't necessarily want to use it someplace that gets fierce winters. But here in North Texas, it works fine.
I live in Florida and do not have to worry about really cold winters. My pen is open air on one side with sand floor throughout. I do not have to deal with weight issues in a raised coop.
We use sand as a base (~3") over which we use wood chips and a bit of straw. Every spring the coop and turkey shed are emptied out and the discarded sand is simply added to that already in the runs. Seems to make it easier on both the turks and our old production sex link's legs when they hop their fat bods down from the roosts. We also mix a couple of pounds of food grade amorphous diatomaceous earth to the sand (somewhat effective insecticide and desiccant). All of this is on top of treated .5" plywood covered with congoleum remnants. Stays dry and clean up is quick. Elmo is right on the money. If you live in a cold climate use an adequate depth of other bedding over the sand.
I tried sand in the coop and it worked fine with my Rhode Island Reds, but now I have some bantam feather footed and vulture hocked chickens and they seem to drag their feathers in the poop that sits on top. The Rhodies used to dig it up a lot more and I never had poops all over with them. The poops were buried and I sifted them out like a giant cat litter box. I also realized when they sometimes spill the water that it stays cold and damp a long time, and that will be no good for winter here to have their beding frozen solid, so I dumped all the sand into the run area and changed the coop up with "Boxo" which is like Carefresh, a paper bedding that is light and fluffy. (Boxo is cheaper than Carefresh). I used to use pine shavings, but the dust was hurting my lungs.
I have pine wood shavings in my coop and construction sand in my run. No way would I want my chickens to go through winter without the wood shavings to help keep them warm during the snow days when they can't go out. HOWEVER, if I lived in the South where it seldom gets really cold, I'd consider going with sand in the coop too because sand is almost care-free as long as you are spreading food-grade diatomaceous earth on it occasionally.
