Sand litter in cold winter climates?

[pikapika]

Some people use the cat litter pellet that expand when wet. Dunno what sort of wood is used in those, but worth investigating.

You can get larger bags of these for cheaper at Tractor Supply or another farm store. They're sold as horse stall bedding. I'm not sure what kind of wood it is either.

 

[katanajo]

We just started our chicken journey so I am learning on the fly and trying my best to prepare for things in advance. We’ve built our own coop and it’s quite sturdy. Insulation under the metal roof and in the walls. It’s 8x8’ with an 8x12’ run. We have 10 one month old hens. I found out that I’m severely allergic to pine shavings to the point I almost had an asthma attack in the coop one day. We decided to switch to sand litter for my health. We live in NE Ohio where the temps can get pretty low in the winter. I’ve been reading that sand isn’t recommended in the winter because the chickens can get frostbite on their feet. I’d be grateful for feedback or suggestions. It’s built on 4X4s and we coated the floor with rubberized material. There’s about 3” of sand throughout and we can’t go any deeper than that. There are 4 single-paned windows, two on each side, west and east. I’ve read about aspen shavings but what I’ve found are maybe too fine for a coop?

Hi there, sorry to hear about your alergies. I think you can keep the sand, I asked Grok AI about this as we use it in their attached run and it acts as an insulator. We add straw in the run for them this week when it got down to 20. For our coop, we use Rentacoop hemp. People say hemp is spendy but you are not doing clean outs for months at a time. Your coop is small so one 30lb (300L) bag will go a long way. It's a lot less work and waste, like sand. Our plymouth rocks (big chickens) are 7 months old and they have been in their coop since they were 10 weeks. We have NEVER changed their hemp liter. We used a vinyl flooring. No smells, wetness, nothing. We turn it with a pitchfork twice a week but I also do a spot clean under their roost every day. They do have a 16ft run and a 10x12 yard so they are only sleeping in their coop. That's about to change soon. This stuff is magical and it smells great. See pic below. I just started using sawdust from a lumber mill under their roost a couple of weeks ago and what a difference in picking up after them. I use a cat litter scoop and the process is the same. The image speaks for itself. Good luck!

 

[M_Struna]

Hi there, sorry to hear about your alergies. I think you can keep the sand, I asked Grok AI about this as we use it in their attached run and it acts as an insulator. We add straw in the run for them this week when it got down to 20. For our coop, we use Rentacoop hemp. People say hemp is spendy but you are not doing clean outs for months at a time. Your coop is small so one 30lb (300L) bag will go a long way. It's a lot less work and waste, like sand. Our plymouth rocks (big chickens) are 7 months old and they have been in their coop since they were 10 weeks. We have NEVER changed their hemp liter. We used a vinyl flooring. No smells, wetness, nothing. We turn it with a pitchfork twice a week but I also do a spot clean under their roost every day. They do have a 16ft run and a 10x12 yard so they are only sleeping in their coop. That's about to change soon. This stuff is magical and it smells great. See pic below. I just started using sawdust from a lumber mill under their roost a couple of weeks ago and what a difference in picking up after them. I use a cat litter scoop and the process is the same. The image speaks for itself. Good luck!

Thanks for your response! Now that my hens are a bit older (one has started laying) and have learned how to roost I’ve been able to develop a fairly easy routine based on their behavior. We’ve built a droppings shelf in the coop and it’s been an absolute game changer. I use sand and PDZ on it and have gone with sand on the coop floor. I splurge on the Chicks Dig It sand because I was able to buy it locally for less than half the cost available on Amazon. It makes quick work of the entire coop cleaning process. I try to clean later in the afternoon. They go out at dawn and spend the majority of the day in the run, so the coop stays relatively clean, except for the shelf. I can’t recommend that sand enough unless cost is an issue. We used construction sand at one point and the dust was unreal. There is virtually no dust to this product, to the point we now use it in our son’s sand box. The dust I do get comes from the PDZ, but that’s necessary and unavoidable.

We’ve gone with hemp in the run and I’m doing deep litter method. We got the Auboise hemp and I’ve got no complaints. It’s still got some life in it and I have another brick of hemp to add, so I think I’m good until a thorough clean-out in the Spring. Despite using First Saturday Lime and PDZ, I still find there to be a slight odor. The only reason I’m surprised by this is that I’ve seen keepers claim to have “no odor whatsoever” when using both hemp and sand. They must not have a very keen sense of smell. Chicken poop stinks. Period. Certain methods of dealing with it are better than others.

We’ve started to put up tarps on the run for the coming Winter and are almost finished building an anteroom to shield supplies (and me) from the weather. An Omlet door is going in next week and I’m going to be watching out for camera sales. I was on the fence about the camera until I went out at dusk last night to find my layer still wandering around the run. They are all generally in by then.

It’s been a process to get up and running and we’ve made lots of adjustments along the way. All ten chicks survived. Everyone appears to be happy and healthy. No medical issues other than a pasty butt early on. We’ll see what the Winter brings. Hopefully, I’m prepared!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Thanks for your response! Now that my hens are a bit older (one has started laying) and have learned how to roost I’ve been able to develop a fairly easy routine based on their behavior. We’ve built a droppings shelf in the coop and it’s been an absolute game changer. I use sand and PDZ on it and have gone with sand on the coop floor. I splurge on the Chicks Dig It sand because I was able to buy it locally for less than half the cost available on Amazon. It makes quick work of the entire coop cleaning process. I try to clean later in the afternoon. They go out at dawn and spend the majority of the day in the run, so the coop stays relatively clean, except for the shelf. I can’t recommend that sand enough unless cost is an issue. We used construction sand at one point and the dust was unreal. There is virtually no dust to this product, to the point we now use it in our son’s sand box. The dust I do get comes from the PDZ, but that’s necessary and unavoidable.

We’ve gone with hemp in the run and I’m doing deep litter method. We got the Auboise hemp and I’ve got no complaints. It’s still got some life in it and I have another brick of hemp to add, so I think I’m good until a thorough clean-out in the Spring. Despite using First Saturday Lime and PDZ, I still find there to be a slight odor. The only reason I’m surprised by this is that I’ve seen keepers claim to have “no odor whatsoever” when using both hemp and sand. They must not have a very keen sense of smell. Chicken poop stinks. Period. Certain methods of dealing with it are better than others.

We’ve started to put up tarps on the run for the coming Winter and are almost finished building an anteroom to shield supplies (and me) from the weather. An Omlet door is going in next week and I’m going to be watching out for camera sales. I was on the fence about the camera until I went out at dusk last night to find my layer still wandering around the run. They are all generally in by then.

It’s been a process to get up and running and we’ve made lots of adjustments along the way. All ten chicks survived. Everyone appears to be happy and healthy. No medical issues other than a pasty butt early on. We’ll see what the Winter brings. Hopefully, I’m prepared!

Great story of your journey!

For what it’s worth, I do deep litter in the run, and it doesn’t smell, but I think that’s because instead of hemp, my run includes pine nuggets, pine straw (dried pine needles), pine flakes, mown grass, dead leaves, and a few other things I’ve forgotten. Also, half of it is uncovered, and I occasionally water the other half to keep the compost process going.

It smells like forest floor, which was my goal.

I use hemp in the nest boxes, and I love it, as do the girls.

 

[M_Struna]

Great story of your journey!

For what it’s worth, I do deep litter in the run, and it doesn’t smell, but I think that’s because instead of hemp, my run includes pine nuggets, pine straw (dried pine needles), pine flakes, mown grass, dead leaves, and a few other things I’ve forgotten. Also, half of it is uncovered, and I occasionally water the other half to keep the compost process going.

It smells like forest floor, which was my goal.

I use hemp in the nest boxes, and I love it, as do the girls.

It makes sense that your coop doesn’t smell with all the pine influence! Oh, how I’d love to do that! I spend time in there with them every day, just hanging out and checking them all over. There isn’t enough allergy medicine to keep that situation in check!

My girl has laid in the hemp in a corner of the run. The very next day I set up a nesting box in the coop with a bougie Eaton nesting pad and ceramic egg. I came out the next day to find the pad torn to shreds and scattered everywhere with the decoy egg laying in the middle of the coop. Looked like a hostile situation So I leave her to it. Every single day she leaves me an egg in her spot in the run. She wants what she wants, I guess!