Sand in the brooder -- it's worth it!

[Bellatrixed]

Yes, the sand holding heat is an important point! I had difficulty getting the heat just right for the first few days. Luckily I have a large enough brooder that they could move away easily if it was too hot. My 250 watt bulbs were too hot and I had to buy 125 watt bulbs to get the right temperature, since I could only raise them so much.

 

[ni22]

I keep a thermometer in the brooder at chick level, they seem to enjoy the sand- the brooder is large enough for them to move away from the heat. They are dusty little creatures and I have been dusting constantly but I would rather have dust than a stinky mess. I am going to see if I can find some Sweet PDZ today to add to the sand because it does have a little smell. Not that you can smell from across the room but if you are right there and looking into it you can smell it. I have been cleaning it daily.

 

[BlueMoonFarm]

Thanks to all for the great information! I am working on plans for our brooder right now, and this thread has made me consider using sand. In my horse stalls, I use a mix of pine shavings and pelleted bedding, so I was planning to use the pellets in the brooder. I'm wondering if anyone could tell me which would create more dust: sand vs. pellets? Sounds like the sand wins on cleanability inside the brooder, but have to consider the dust factor in the laundry room as well!

My chicks won't arrive til April 11, so I have plenty of time to change my mind at least a couple more times.

 

[Tarac]

Since I am picking up my chicks next weekend I am also thinking about brooder substrate this weekend and think I would like to use sand. My question is whether or not it is OK to use plain old, out of the ground sand. Here in Florida, and on the west side of town especially where the historic coast line formerly was when the sea levels were higher, there is really nice fine sand. It's much finer and softer than anything you can buy in the stores and I was thinking it would serve dual purpose- litter and also exposure to our local microflora and fauna. I read (here on BYC) that the best way to ensure hardy chicks is to let them be exposed to the dirt in your area (Coccidia, etc.) so I was thinking that using this sand over something packaged and brought in from who knows where would be doubly beneficial. Any contraindications or other reasons not to use it? My plan is to dig some up from my parent's property where I am certain it is clean in terms of chemical treatments and such.



EDIT: I found the article from here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coccidiosis-and-medicated-feed

 

[ready4thegirls]

So I have been reading everything on here about the best brooder options. We just received our chicks 3 days ago. I went with washed play sand from Lowes and put a few layers of paper towels over the sand. Yesterday I left a square open to the sand to see what would happen, they wouldn't even walk on it! They went around it on the papertowels! So I decided to leave the paper towels down a few more days until they get a little braver(one of the 15 tried to scratch at it and thought about a dust bath but never quite got there). This morning when I changed the PT I noticed some droppings had found their way to the sand. I used a little screen kitchen strainer, but I found that I am getting all the little rocks out and very little is straining through. Even though it is washed and strained as the package says, there are still quite a few small rocks so I get the feeling I am going to be wasting a lot of the sand with the rocks until it is sifted through a few times.

I also want to note that I am not using a heat lamp. I went with the EcoGlow brooder and think it is AWESOME! This is my first time with chickens of any kind and I was so afraid of the heat lamps being to hot or cold or causing a fire (we are also using a clear plastic tote), the brooder is in our basement. I feel so secure knowing the EcoGlow won't get to hot and there is no way it would start a fire. The chicks love it because it is dark, warm and out of the way so they can hide out under there and I leave our lights on all the time so they can see at night if needed. By 8pm they are all piled up in the corner under the EcoGlow just snuggled in and totally out(they even bury their little heads into their fluff, SO cute!) They have also been practicing their flying skills off the top of the EcoGlow across the brooder. They haven't figured out the little roosting sticks I stuck in there yet.

On another note, I tried giving them a hard boiled egg as a treat per some discussing I saw on BYC. They wouldn't touch it. Any ideas about that? Should I continue to try or just wait a few weeks?

 

[Bellatrixed]

So I have been reading everything on here about the best brooder options. We just received our chicks 3 days ago. I went with washed play sand from Lowes and put a few layers of paper towels over the sand. Yesterday I left a square open to the sand to see what would happen, they wouldn't even walk on it! They went around it on the papertowels! So I decided to leave the paper towels down a few more days until they get a little braver(one of the 15 tried to scratch at it and thought about a dust bath but never quite got there). This morning when I changed the PT I noticed some droppings had found their way to the sand. I used a little screen kitchen strainer, but I found that I am getting all the little rocks out and very little is straining through. Even though it is washed and strained as the package says, there are still quite a few small rocks so I get the feeling I am going to be wasting a lot of the sand with the rocks until it is sifted through a few times.

I also want to note that I am not using a heat lamp. I went with the EcoGlow brooder and think it is AWESOME! This is my first time with chickens of any kind and I was so afraid of the heat lamps being to hot or cold or causing a fire (we are also using a clear plastic tote), the brooder is in our basement. I feel so secure knowing the EcoGlow won't get to hot and there is no way it would start a fire. The chicks love it because it is dark, warm and out of the way so they can hide out under there and I leave our lights on all the time so they can see at night if needed. By 8pm they are all piled up in the corner under the EcoGlow just snuggled in and totally out(they even bury their little heads into their fluff, SO cute!) They have also been practicing their flying skills off the top of the EcoGlow across the brooder. They haven't figured out the little roosting sticks I stuck in there yet.

On another note, I tried giving them a hard boiled egg as a treat per some discussing I saw on BYC. They wouldn't touch it. Any ideas about that? Should I continue to try or just wait a few weeks?

I had the problem with getting mostly rocks in the sand at first too, but after a few days of scooping the majority came out with the droppings. Now there's much less waste! I've noticed it helps to do a good bit of shaking with the scoop (if you're using something with a fine wire mesh) to make sure you get as much of the actual sand to come out as possible. It can take some getting used to.

Mine are always afraid of new treats too. They were scared of the hardboiled egg the first time I gave it to them, but I just left it there for a bit and one eventually got brave enough to try it and then the others caught on. I thought they were past the treat fear but I gave them a few peas the other day and they wouldn't touch them for an hour or so. Crazy little things!

 

[Seaarla]

Thanks f

Not sure about the chert. Is it finely ground like sand or larger bits? If it's larger grain than sand it will be difficult to clean. Sand falls nicely through screen, which is the best way to clean.

A pet store more than likely will have small bags of reptile sand for a lot of money. A hardware store will have larger bags of children's playsand for a better price.

Using unwashed sand will be dusty. Playsand is the type that has been washed and sifted, and is better suited to a brooder environment.

Yeah, the chert would of been horrible to clean. It's gravel basically so it would not have sifted. I've been using playsand for five days now and it's great so far. Thanks (-:

 

[Tarac]

Since I am picking up my chicks next weekend I am also thinking about brooder substrate this weekend and think I would like to use sand. My question is whether or not it is OK to use plain old, out of the ground sand. Here in Florida, and on the west side of town especially where the historic coast line formerly was when the sea levels were higher, there is really nice fine sand. It's much finer and softer than anything you can buy in the stores and I was thinking it would serve dual purpose- litter and also exposure to our local microflora and fauna. I read (here on BYC) that the best way to ensure hardy chicks is to let them be exposed to the dirt in your area (Coccidia, etc.) so I was thinking that using this sand over something packaged and brought in from who knows where would be doubly beneficial. Any contraindications or other reasons not to use it? My plan is to dig some up from my parent's property where I am certain it is clean in terms of chemical treatments and such. EDIT: I found the article from here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coccidiosis-and-medicated-feed

No input on sand from outside? It's very fine so I think it will be better in terms of cleaning too- no large particles at all.

 

[DelcoChix]

I'm from central Ohio...not a lot of sand just lying around here so my knowledge is somewhat limited...but I think I'd read that the one concern with sand was in regards to beach sand with the potential for salt residue. Other than that, if your yard/property is sandy to begin with then I don't see why that would make a difference in a brooder...just sounds like you have to be cautious with beach sand.
On a sidenote, I just today bought some playsand from Lowe's ($3.30 a bag when I bought 10 bags)--I put two bags in my brooder and that was more than enough, at least it looks that way. My new chicks arrive next week. But, for less than $7 I got enough to put down about a 2" layer (at least 2") in my 4'x4' brooder. And this sand is the fine stuff--no larger pebbles in it...hopefully it will work well?

 

[Doug Hodges]

Well, Another great idea. Im using my extra water troughs as brooders in my garage. I have tons of sand I can scoop up for free at a few sand bars I know here in North Central Arkansas. Easily gotten and free. Thanks for this idea.