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!

 

[Echelontheory101]

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?

Im up in New England so I have similar snow fall and temps as you, a little over 150 inches a season and negative temps most of jan/February. Im doing just sand in the coop and run but I have 2 zero clearance cozy coop panels mounted behind the roost bar, it doesn't heat the coop at all but it just takes some of the chill off while they roost. If the sand is dry and not muddy it will be chilly to the touch on their feet but wouldn't hurt them. If its regularly muddy i would go shavings of some kind.

I find hemp bedding that I use in the brooder is waaay easier on my asthma than pine and wood shavings but it's pricey

 

[M_Struna]

Im up in New England so I have similar snow fall and temps as you, a little over 150 inches a season and negative temps most of jan/February. Im doing just sand in the coop and run but I have 2 zero clearance cozy coop panels mounted behind the roost bar, it doesn't heat the coop at all but it just takes some of the chill off while they roost. If the sand is dry and not muddy it will be chilly to the touch on their feet but wouldn't hurt them. If its regularly muddy i would go shavings of some kind.

I find hemp bedding that I use in the brooder is waaay easier on my asthma than pine and wood shavings but it's pricey

Thanks for your response! The further along I am in this journey the more I’m getting a feel for what these girls prefer and can tolerate. My coop is dry and I’m currently using premium chicken sand, which I love. I feel comfortable with it since, although the temps during the day have been in the 40’s, they really prefer to be out in the run. I’m glad I chose not to do deep litter in the coop, mostly to avoid the moisture and humidity. I think it might be adequately ventilated but we’re going to add a couple more vents just under the roof line on the high side this week.

I am using Auboise French hemp in the run. It was very user-friendly for deep litter…until I put the tarps up for the rain and coming winter. All of a sudden there’s a lot of dust everywhere, which also gets my sinuses going. I’m not going to change anything at this point, but I am seriously considering trying pine pellet horse bedding in the spring. I’ve been doing some research and they aren’t all created equal. There are some companies that take extra steps to produce a better product. The one I’m looking at is Guardian. Reportedly they use a process to extract the dust prior to pelleting and use a very high heat kiln to remove tar, oils, hydrocarbons and other allergens. I guess pine allergy in horses is a thing. Who knew?! Anyway, I’m considering trying this when the weather breaks. I think it would be relatively less expensive than hemp. A 44 lb brick is up to $95 now and it takes two to adequately cover my run.

I just continue to adjust things as I go along, trying to make things easy on myself while taking the best possible care of the girls. I just put in an Omlet automatic door last week and was working on setting up a couple cameras this morning. I still go out after the coop door closes to make sure everyone got in safely. The cameras will help.

 

[Echelontheory101]

Thanks for your response! The further along I am in this journey the more I’m getting a feel for what these girls prefer and can tolerate. My coop is dry and I’m currently using premium chicken sand, which I love. I feel comfortable with it since, although the temps during the day have been in the 40’s, they really prefer to be out in the run. I’m glad I chose not to do deep litter in the coop, mostly to avoid the moisture and humidity. I think it might be adequately ventilated but we’re going to add a couple more vents just under the roof line on the high side this week.

I am using Auboise French hemp in the run. It was very user-friendly for deep litter…until I put the tarps up for the rain and coming winter. All of a sudden there’s a lot of dust everywhere, which also gets my sinuses going. I’m not going to change anything at this point, but I am seriously considering trying pine pellet horse bedding in the spring. I’ve been doing some research and they aren’t all created equal. There are some companies that take extra steps to produce a better product. The one I’m looking at is Guardian. Reportedly they use a process to extract the dust prior to pelleting and use a very high heat kiln to remove tar, oils, hydrocarbons and other allergens. I guess pine allergy in horses is a thing. Who knew?! Anyway, I’m considering trying this when the weather breaks. I think it would be relatively less expensive than hemp. A 44 lb brick is up to $95 now and it takes two to adequately cover my run.

I just continue to adjust things as I go along, trying to make things easy on myself while taking the best possible care of the girls. I just put in an Omlet automatic door last week and was working on setting up a couple cameras this morning. I still go out after the coop door closes to make sure everyone got in safely. The cameras will help.

That's awesome! if for whatever reason those pellets or other shavings don't work I do know some people that actually use like regular garden mulch it's bigger chunks but it does make sifting a little bit more of a pain you have to more like rake it and scoop poop it's less like kitty litter where you can sift it out but garden mulch the big wood mulch isn't dusty like all the shavings and hay and stuff is so maybe that would help with your allergies / asthma if you aren't able to find a solution that works for you with the pine. Hope you find something! Im always fighting against my allergies so I get it haha

 

[M_Struna]

Im up in New England so I have similar snow fall and temps as you, a little over 150 inches a season and negative temps most of jan/February. Im doing just sand in the coop and run but I have 2 zero clearance cozy coop panels mounted behind the roost bar, it doesn't heat the coop at all but it just takes some of the chill off while they roost. If the sand is dry and not muddy it will be chilly to the touch on their feet but wouldn't hurt them. If its regularly muddy i would go shavings of some kind.

I find hemp bedding that I use in the brooder is waaay easier on my asthma than pine and wood shavings but it's pricey

I, too, am going to put an ambient heat source above the roost bar in the coop. I got a 40” Sweeter Heater. When you say yours are zero clearance what does that mean exactly? I’ve been wondering about placement.

 

[Echelontheory101]

I, too, am going to put an ambient heat source above the roost bar in the coop. I got a 40” Sweeter Heater. When you say yours are zero clearance what does that mean exactly? I’ve been wondering about placement.

I think the sweeter heater is zero clearance as well double check the product description atleast the mountable ones the hanging ones may not be. It just means that it can be screwed straight to a wood wall and you don't have to have any concerns for fire risk or it can be right up against flammable bedding etc without fire risk (without MUCH fire risk atleast anything that runs on electricity has a little risk but these are known to be safe) because it's a radiant panel theres nothing that could spark or ignite like a heat bulb or space heater etc.

It also means the birds can literally sit on it if they wanted and not burn themselves, although my cozy coop panels on high feel pretty toasty to my touch atleast so I keep it on medium jsut in case they do press up directly against it.

This is how I have them set up. They look like little flat screens