Sand in run

[makoo]

Wondering if the sand my husband got for our chicken run will be okay. I sent him to grab sand while I was working and told him we needed a medium corse construction sand. He went to our local landscaping business and told them what he wanted. When I got home from work I looked at it and it’s definitely not as corse as concrete sand but also not as fine as play sand. Invoice labeled it as “masonry sand”. Curious if this will be okay or if it will cause respiratory issues or impacted crop. Thanks for any advice.

 

[azygous]

Masonry sand is kind of the BMW or Lexus level of sand. I use it in my coops without any health issues. I use construction sand, the Ford and Chevy level, in my runs.

 

[hsk1977]

I was wondering about masonry sand as well. I want to redo our coop and run with sand and have been on the hunt for coarse sand. I finally found a source today that has both masonry and sugar sand. I was told the masonry sand is washed and the sugar sand isn't, but he said neither is particularly coarse. He compared their masonry sand to what is at the beach, and I was wondering if that was too fine.

 

[WildNectarine]

I was wondering about masonry sand as well. I want to redo our coop and run with sand and have been on the hunt for coarse sand. I finally found a source today that has both masonry and sugar sand. I was told the masonry sand is washed and the sugar sand isn't, but he said neither is particularly coarse. He compared their masonry sand to what is at the beach, and I was wondering if that was too fine.

Now, I keep pet quail, and indoors, so I’ll admit, I’m no chicken expert, but, I know the things that overlap, and birds in general, and, if you have to wonder, it probably is. That’s my bird rule. Play sand and other fine grained sands can, keyword, can, possibly cause crop impactions since they are able to “clump” when wetted, it’s definitely not a 100% avoid it at all costs it will kill your birds type thing, but it’s a risk if a bird decides to gorge itself on sand, and I don’t like taking risks myself, and especially not leaving it up to the bird’s discretion, because birds know the worst possible times to have something go wrong with them in your life, and will do something stupid at that very exact moment; and, the finer it is, the more dust there will be, which is a danger to you and them over time. What I would do, is either get a coarser sand, or, if you absolutely have to get this sand, mix a few bags of commercial poultry grit in, a few sized for adults, and a few sized for chicks, so they have a selection; though, I’d still mix grit in even if you go with a coarser sand, and always offer a dish of just grit, better safe than sorry. And be wary, not all grit sold for birds is just stones, it can have additives, mostly vegetable oil and probiotics, so if you’re doing anything organic or the like, you’ll want to be careful. Hope this helped.

 

[hsk1977]

Now, I keep pet quail, and indoors, so I’ll admit, I’m no chicken expert, but, I know the things that overlap, and birds in general, and, if you have to wonder, it probably is. That’s my bird rule. Play sand and other fine grained sands can, keyword, can, possibly cause crop impactions since they are able to “clump” when wetted, it’s definitely not a 100% avoid it at all costs it will kill your birds type thing, but it’s a risk if a bird decides to gorge itself on sand, and I don’t like taking risks myself, and especially not leaving it up to the bird’s discretion, because birds know the worst possible times to have something go wrong with them in your life, and will do something stupid at that very exact moment; and, the finer it is, the more dust there will be, which is a danger to you and them over time. What I would do, is either get a coarser sand, or, if you absolutely have to get this sand, mix a few bags of commercial poultry grit in, a few sized for adults, and a few sized for chicks, so they have a selection; though, I’d still mix grit in even if you go with a coarser sand, and always offer a dish of just grit, better safe than sorry. And be wary, not all grit sold for birds is just stones, it can have additives, mostly vegetable oil and probiotics, so if you’re doing anything organic or the like, you’ll want to be careful. Hope this helped.

Thanks for the reply! And yes, I do prefer to err on the side of caution. Mixing grit in is a great idea though, and I will keep that in mind.

 

[BauerWFarm]

Masonry sand is kind of the BMW or Lexus level of sand. I use it in my coops without any health issues. I use construction sand, the Ford and Chevy level, in my runs.

Is masonry sand kind of similar to sandy loam?? I’m not sure what kind my mother ended up getting for me, it seemed pretty fine and covered everything… which is not what I found researching…. I’m desperate to find the correct kind of filler for my run!

 

[Finchbreeder]

Same with my finches. Grainy sand floors in all my avairies.
But no way to fine sands.

 

[azygous]

Masonry sand is fine like beach sand. I use it in my coops. The chickens also eat it as grit as they do the coarser construction sand in their run. I've had this setup for going on two decades and never had a chicken or even a baby chick get it impacted in their gizzards.

 

[hsk1977]

Masonry sand is fine like beach sand. I use it in my coops. The chickens also eat it as grit as they do the coarser construction sand in their run. I've had this setup for going on two decades and never had a chicken or even a baby chick get it impacted in their gizzards.

Do you think having only masonry sand in the run would be ok for them? I can’t find construction sand other than by the bag, which will add up pretty quickly. Our run is about 9x22’.

 

[azygous]

If you can afford it, get the masonry sand. I find it much easier to scoop poop out of because you can see the poop better in fine sand. I have very large runs, and I used masonry sand in them until the local quarry ran out, and the new imported masonry sand now costs four times as much. So I now have construction sand in the runs. I've had no issues with either.