Sand vs. Deep litter. Let's solve this

[Uncle Marc]

I hope to make some real progress this weekend on building our coop. I had read and pretty much decided on setting it up for deep litter method until I read the thread on using sand instead.

My coop is 12 x 16 and we hope to house 12-15 hens. Our coop is three feet off the ground with a dirt run beneath. The floor will be 3/4. Plywood. I plan to put vinyl down over the plywood.

Is there a definitive preference between sand and wood shavings? In my situation I want to clean the coop as little as possible. I'm not looking for pets, I'm looking for eggs.

Thanks.

By the way out of that 12 x 16 we will have a 10 x 6 egg room so the coop will be 6 x 16 with a roosting area which is 6 x 6.

 

[featherz]

Quote:
I tried sand for a while, hated it. But lots of people love it. Been doing deep litter now for two years and clean the coop out twice a year. That's more my speed.

One of my coops is vinyl over plywood also. Another is just plain wood and the third is on dirt.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

At an aviary we worked at, the enclosures I liked most had easy to rake/scoop out sand. Easy to clean, easy to enrich the birds. Dirt enclosures packed down and needed constant tilling. Concrete/hard floors could be sprayed down easily enough, but the birds didn't enjoy them as much and scrubbing the floors was awful when things did start growing on them. Any sort of shavings/wood chip enclosures...I hated. D: They got everwhere, and had to have special care taken during wet weather. I just personally would rather do a quick rake up (like scooping a litter box) through sand every 1-2 days, and not have to worry so much about dampness, etc effecting the birds. I also hate deep cleaning, and there was much less work involved in doing a deep clean of a sand enclosure than any other kind. But, that is just me. Different methods exist precisely because people like different things.

The drawbacks of sand:
-It will not add warmth/insulation to your coop like hay, etc will
-You have to choose a kind that will not kick up dust, or that can have negative health effects on you as well as your birds
-It should be replaced if it gets very cement like, which is heavy, hard work

 

[BarredBuff]

I prefer deep litter..........

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Use shavings inside and sand outside

 

[7L Farm]

For me it depends on what time of the year it is. Summer, I like sand helps keep the birds cool. Winter, I add pine shavings in the coop & leaves in their run.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
That shouldn't happen if you use the right kind of sand to begin with: one with low fines content. If the sand clumps when it gets a bit wet, or even when it's dry, it's not the right kind of sand.

 

[Ole rooster]

I've been so many of these sand vs ! discussions I'll let y'all hash this out. I know what works for me and what I want, and I have it.

 

[eggdd]

Quote:
That shouldn't happen if you use the right kind of sand to begin with: one with low fines content. If the sand clumps when it gets a bit wet, or even when it's dry, it's not the right kind of sand.

what is the right kind?

 

[JackE]

I go with deep litter(Pine shavings). I clean out and replace the shavings twice a year. In between those cleanings, I'll dump a fresh bag in as needed ( As the shavings break down). I let the chickens do the work of keeping the bedding turned over by throwing a few handfulls of scratch in there and let the chickens do what they love to do, as in eat scratch and dig around. You can't get much easier then that. With sand you have to go in there everyday with your catlitter scoop, sift around and dig out the crap. Not what I want to do.
Jack