Sand in the brooder?

[leight54]

My 2 chicks are almost 2 weeks old. They've been in a plastic bin brooder. I'm still only using paper towels on the bottom. With only 2 of them, it lasts a long time - the poo dries quickly, and it doesn't smell at all.

I want my chicks to have more room to run around, so I'm thinking of making a bigger brooder in my basement out of 2 cardboard boxes (open underneath) taped together to make an octagon shape. I have window screens to put over the top.

My question is, is it practical to use sand in the bottom? I will put a shower curtain on the floor, then newspapers. The idea of pine shavings scares me, as I've read about chicks eating them. But would sand work well? How deep would it have to be? Remember, we're only talking about 2 chicks, so maybe not all that deep?

I could keep it scooped out, and then use it in the outdoor run, couldn't I?

Also, what kind of sand, sandbox or construction?

 

[GiddyMoon]

We had 27 chicks in a giant tub with paper towels..I liked the towels but with this many, it got dirty too fast..we built a 5x5 pen in the garage and got sand from our backyard and they love it.

 

[leight54]

Now, I've read that sand is bad. Can anyone advise me? At 2 weeks, is sand still bad?

 

[GiddyMoon]

The only time I have ever seen anyone say sand is bad is when it is an opinion becuase they might eat too much sand..well, then we have the people who have chicks eating pine shavings. If they were with their mom they would be pecking at the ground, and sand and dirt, by day too...so I went with the sand.

 

[macadam8157]

Is sandbox play sand like at the home improvement store good/ok to use in brooder/coop???

 

[GiddyMoon]

I have heard it is better to use river sand..some highly processed sand mite be too small, but I know there are people who have used playground sand. Being in AZ, sand is all over our acre..we literally just filled 3 buckets full and put it in the coop.

 

[WalkerH]

Mine really love the sand. I just recently switched to straw since they are older and it seems people like that. I just use the play sand from Lowes, and I would get a reptile poo scooper since it has smaller slits then the cat poo scooper.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Play sand from the home improvement store is the sand to get. Sometimes the construction sand has silica in it. The play sand contains prebiotics and acts as grit and is actually good for them to eat and it is good for them to dust bathe in.

 

[naughtyhens]

When I brooded my chicks last year, I started with play sand in a tiny box and then after a while I switched to parakeet grit from the supermarket. It is meant for birds, nice and clean and has calcium. I used that until they went outside where they have access to various sizes of grit and gravel. Everything seemed to be fine.

 

[macadam8157]

Does anyone know where to get a big scooper? I mean BIG I'll be using it in the coop.