Sand or No Sand, that is the question

[lynnehd]

@LaVidaGallina ,I'll speak from personal experience AND a similar climate to yours (SW Washington). It doesn't do much good to compare your husbandry to someone in Florida or California or Michigan, quite frankly.
I LOVE my sand. But only in the coop and covered run. It keeps their feet clean, is easy to scoop in about 3 mins, both coop and run. But you don't want it to get sopping wet in any climate. In the winter, I cover the sides of my run with plastic, at least on the North and East sides to protect against heavy winds and rain, and to extend the area that they can 'hang out' in. Thus the sand stays mostly dry, and that is the key. This set up has been VERY successful in our climate.
I have a secondary outside uncovered run under a tree, that I more or less use deep litter in- about 6 inches of leaves, wood chips. The chickens love this area for scratching around in.

 

[irfxr]

I've raise gamebirds, hookbills and now chickens on sand and wouldn't consider using anything but. The poop rolls up in the sand and racks out real easy. The pens are covered and we don't get much rain most of the time. Oh, and they are on asphalt and the sand is only about 1 inch or less deep. So drying out doesn't take long. Maybe go in and rake around loosing the sand up helps too .The chickens also have the benefit for using the sand as a grit too ...