Sand

[kuntrygirl]

I don't know what silica sand is. I use "washed sand" in my runs and coops.

 

[wannabchick]

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I really appreciate you sharing that with me

have an awesome day

 

[Nava]

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They'll peck at it and arrange it to their liking as they're dustbathing in it, but sand is far too fine to serve as grit. You will still want to provide standard granite grit for poultry to your chickens.

I have found that if you get the coarse sand it serves as grit, I have not bought grit in over a year and have not had a soft shell egg.
* not telling any one to not buy grit, this is just my choice *

 

[elmo]

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They'll peck at it and arrange it to their liking as they're dustbathing in it, but sand is far too fine to serve as grit. You will still want to provide standard granite grit for poultry to your chickens.

I have found that if you get the coarse sand it serves as grit, I have not bought grit in over a year and have not had a soft shell egg.
* not telling any one to not buy grit, this is just my choice *

Grit and calcium supplements (usually crushed oyster shell) are two different things that are often confused. Grit is what a chicken uses in its gizzard to help it grind up the food that's too tough or hard shelled to be digested by the acids in its glandular stomach. The best kind of grit is granite because it's rough and irregularly shaped. Sand, even coarse sand, is much too small to serve in this digestive function. Grit has nothing to do with egg shell formation, but everything to do with digestion. When chickens free range they often can pick up grit in the form of stones on their own, and sometimes even in a dirt run they'll be able to find enough stones. Of course, if all they are eating is chicken feed, the need for gritl is minimized.

Crushed oyster shell is a calcium supplement often provided free choice so that a hen needing a bit of extra calcium can select what she needs. Laying rations already contain calcium, so not every hen will need supplementation for proper eggshell formation.

 

[Joe Indiana]

I put sand in our chicken run and I love it. It is a coarse sand and you can see all sorts of pebbles in it. I believe the guys at the the supplier refer to it as #23 sand. This sand is what our chickens use for grit. It costs 9 or 10 dollars per ton.

 

[weazel922]

I'm building my first coop/run ever. I keep reading about how much everyone likes sand, but my run isn't covered. Do you guys having anyproblems keeping it in the run? Do you have some type of framework to keep it in? And does it not get mushy during heavy rains? I live in NE Kansas, so we have every type of weather, including long cold winters. Do you think the sand will get too cold in the winter?

 

[kuntrygirl]

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From what I understand, it depends upon your climate/temps/etc. as far as how well the sand will do. I live in South Louisiana where our coldest temps over the last 6 weeks was about 19 degrees. In my area, we had heavy rains. It did not get mushy at all in the run. My sand run is uncovered and you can see what it looked like 6 weeks ago and what it looks like now. The AFTER picture was taken this weekend. I know that it has only been 6 weeks but I love the sand (washed sand). My run is 28 feet long - 10 feet wide - 8 feet tall. 3 yards of sand cost me only $20.00. You can also see the type of framework. No sand has washed away. It filled up the back of my pick and then some. It was A LOT ! The only thing that I did in the sand run is pick up the poop with a pooper scooper in the areas where my birds pooped. Other than that, I did not have to rake the sand back in place or nothing. What you see is what you get.

New uncovered run with sand built 6 weeks ago.

New uncovered run with sand 6 weeks after being built.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Hmmmm. I dunno if more sand will fit in the coop.

I looked at the bag and it was labeled something along the lines of "General All Purpose Sand". It didn't say it was silica sand, but it had a warning about silica on the back. I didn't keep the bag because I had thrown it in the trash and it was covered with noodles and stuff.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

So, do you guys think what I bought is silica sand or not?

My guess is that it is, because it had a warning about silica on the back. But then, it's called "All Purpose Sand". The bag recommended it for pet areas...and that just doesn't fit with silica, does it?

 

[Netherworldtaken]

sounds like silica to me. we just bought construction grade stuff from the local diy store and it works fine.