Talk to me about sand?

[boz]

I use sand in the coop, but not in the run. I love it for the coop. I scoop daily and it makes it so much easier to maintain. Plus, as a new chicken owner, it allows me to watch their poop, so I can see if there is an issue with illness. When I used pine shavings, that was harder to do. I am still learning a lot, but can monitor their droppings easily.
I use a semi deep litter method for the run, mostly because we get a ton of rain here (especially lately), and the sand would just wash out or compact.

as far as the coop we just use grass or hay then move it to the compost pile, But I not saying not to use sand it is what ever works best for everyone, just not for me to much of free hay to buy sand!!

 

[ChickenMamaC]

We live in the high desert and have access to literally TONS of natural sand in our arroyos-- would there be anything wrong with using that?

 

[lazy gardener]

No, nothing wrong with free sand. Perhaps, in your climate, sand would work, especially since you can replace it without cost if that needs to happen. For me, in my climate, with my respiratory and health issues, sand would be a total deal breaker for me.

 

[ChickenMamaC]

No, nothing wrong with free sand. Perhaps, in your climate, sand would work, especially since you can replace it without cost if that needs to happen. For me, in my climate, with my respiratory and health issues, sand would be a total deal breaker for me.

I think we will use straw in the run, and just try the sand in the coop to start-- we will see how it goes. Neither of us have respiratory problems, but we do both have allergies, so we will have to see how it goes. Thanks!

 

[X_and_Z]

I use sand in my coop and covered run and like it but
a) I live in a dry climate
b) I clean every day

It only takes me a few minutes to clean, but I do have to do it every day. Sand is easy to clean if it is dry - you just sift out the poop (there are lots of options for doing this). Once it gets wet it is difficult/impossible to clean as it clumps.

I also have an uncovered area that is deep litter (wood chips/shavings/mulch/whatever over dirt). This is VERY dusty in my climate and does smell when it gets wet, but does require no maintenance on my part.

 

[ChickenMamaC]

I use sand in my coop and covered run and like it but
a) I live in a dry climate
b) I clean every day

It only takes me a few minutes to clean, but I do have to do it every day. Sand is easy to clean if it is dry - you just sift out the poop (there are lots of options for doing this). Once it gets wet it is difficult/impossible to clean as it clumps.

I also have an uncovered area that is deep litter (wood chips/shavings/mulch/whatever over dirt). This is VERY dusty in my climate and does smell when it gets wet, but does require no maintenance on my part.

We live in Santa Fe-- sooooo super dry. What do you use to sift the poop?

 

[X_and_Z]

We live in Santa Fe-- sooooo super dry. What do you use to sift the poop?

This is a post about various tool options that I wrote a little while ago:
Using sand in chicken run.......yes or no?

My favorite combo is a flat bottomed plastic feed scoop plus a gold sifting pan. I can clean my coop area in < 1 minute and my covered run area (using a rake to rake the top layer into a small area to be sifted) in < 3 minutes. I dump the poop/detritus material into a composter. Granted, neither area is very big, but it takes less time to clean than it takes to check and re-fill the feeders.

There are plenty of people that will give you a negative review of sand though. My experience has been positive, but I think their experiences are just as valid and are worth taking into account.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

as far as the coop we just use grass or hay then move it to the compost pile, But I not saying not to use sand it is what ever works best for everyone, just not for me to much of free hay to buy sand!!

If I had access to free hay, I would use that, too.