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

[candyNflowers]

is stall dry ok to use in the brooder? trying it out. while it is dusty when i sift the poop out otherwise seems ok. I also have it in the coop on my poop boards. -lisa

 

[candyNflowers]

glad to see someone else using stall dry in the brooder. i started using it last week and like it so far, although it can be dusty when i sift the poop out. I also am using it on the poop board in my coop and like it there as well.-lisa

 

[luv2greys]

I am also so very happy using sand in my brooder. I just got my babies yesterday morning, and have paper towels on top of the sand. I have been changing the paper towels several times a day, and look forward to not having to put it down in a few days. So far there is NO smell, even though they are all little poop monsters! I am so very grateful for the suggestion as I probably would have just gone with shavings had I not read about the sand here. Once I have the sand uncovered I will add a little Sweet PDZ, as I already have that on hand for my horses.

 

[HomesteadDebi]

The dust was so bad for me that I had to not use that room in my house after about week 2 and couldn't go in without a dust mask...

However, I used Sweet PDZ which added to the dust by a LOT, and they were also in the house til they were a month which was a disaster. They were only in for that long since bad weather prevented their coop from being done any sooner. If they were a lot younger and no PDZ was in the sand I imagine the dust would be a lot better. It was a nightmare though lol.

Oh wow, thanks. I think I would rather live with the smell a couple more weeks than increase the dust in the house. I already can't keep up with the girls dust. lol

 

[3riverschick]

Oh wow, thanks. I think I would rather live with the smell a couple more weeks than increase the dust in the house. I already can't keep up with the girls dust. lol

I wonder if putting a window screen cover on the brooder might help? Or if it would trap too much dust inside the brooder?
Hum,
Karen

 

[12321]

Our 22 chicks are 2 weeks old today. We put them in the sand when they were 2 days old. Started them in a box in the brooder, then went to half the brooder and now they have the full 4'x4' sand box to flap around in. I got the sand from some sand dunes, so it is really fine, but clean and pretty much dust free. I just put in some sweet PDZ because it was starting to get a bit of an odor.The Sweet PDZ is bigger that the sand granules and more than half of the chicks seem to have a taste for it. I sprinkled some food around to try to take their attention off the new stuff but they seem to like it enough to dig for it.

Has anyone had any problems with chicks eating too much of this stuff?

 

[JustinVero]

Awesome! I may have to try this!

Me too!

 

[tntgrandma2011]

Sand sounds great! How deep should it be in the brooder?

 

[CarolynF]

CarolynF - I haven't seen them intentionally eating the Sweet PDZ, but it's safe if they eat a little. It's supposed to be natural and safe for all animals, and it's just little tiny white grains... it reminds me of clumping cat litter in appearance. I'm glad my post was helpful! What do you use to scoop out your full size coop? I am planning on using it when they're grown as well, but I haven't yet come up with a scoop that would work! I guess I might try to put hardware cloth over a rake or something lol.

My setup isn't big, I only have 4 chickens, so I use a long handled litter scoop that I found at the pet store. It's probably ab out 18" long. But I've heard of a lot of other styles that people have invented from what they have on hand.

Another vote for sand in the brooder/coop.

Benefits:

dries the poop quickly so it is less likely to stick to their feet
almost no odor
keeps the brooder dry
used as grit
used as a dust bath
very easy to scoop or skim the top layer of poop out
inexpensive

I LOVE using sand and wish I would have started out with it in the brooders. The pellets are so expensive and they stink. It took a lot of moisture to make them break down to sawdust and become absorbent. I will be using sand in my coop as well.

Remember that wet sand in their pen/run can get really nasty smelling and get hard as rock. I'm talking about heavy rain for a few days, not just light rain that comes once a week. Try to keep it dry by covering your pen/run. I speak from experience!

Sand sounds great! How deep should it be in the brooder?

A half inch is deep enough. Just enough to make it easy to scoop the poop.


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My chicks are outside now, but I started with a rubbermaid tub on top of my dryer, then into a large wire style dog kennel with sand. The first day they were on sand they ate quite a lot, but that's ok. They need it in their gizzard to digest any kind of food that isn't manufactured crumbles or pellets. But I *was* surprised how much sand they ate. The only room large enough to handle the kennel was the dining room. I covered the floor with vinyl table cloths because the little stinkers definitely kick sand out! I used a round wire mesh scoop, generally used when deep frying, as the litter scoop. I had one on hand, and it has a long handle, so I didn't have to buy something new.

I was warned about the amount of dust chicks create, so I covered everything with sheets and towels. When my Mother (age 93) walked in she wanted to know if we were MOVING? LoL

I thought you might enjoy seeing the setup

(click to enlarge photos)





The bucket is their nipple waterer. It took them about 15 seconds to figure it out. I use one just like it for my hens; they're excellent.
After they moved to their outdoor coop I was super motivated to do a DEEP spring cleaning! It's been about a week now and I'm still finding chick down here and there!

 

[Suzierd]

I got the pre washed all purpose sand, quikrete and opened the bag and the sand is wet, I really want to move my chicks to a bigger area, do I have to dry it first?