To sand, or not to sand? That is the question.

[CityslickerHomestead]

I hope this is in the appropriate thread...

Who uses sand in their coop and run? I’m arguing with my spouse right now about it because the very first information I read said “sand harbors more bacteria and isn’t a good insulator. Your chickens will eat sand covered poop and get impacted crops”.

Whereas he has read “sand is the best for cleanup and drains better than anything so you can prevent muddy, wet runs. Thereby preventing muddy, wet chickens”.

 

[R2elk]

I hope this is in the appropriate thread...

Who uses sand in their coop and run? I’m arguing with my spouse right now about it because the very first information I read said “sand harbors more bacteria and isn’t a good insulator. Your chickens will eat sand covered poop and get impacted crops”.

Whereas he has read “sand is the best for cleanup and drains better than anything so you can prevent muddy, wet runs. Thereby preventing muddy, wet chickens”.

I live on a sand dune. Sand is the base for everything including the coop floor and the run.

Whether or not sand is an insulator is irrelevant to me. I have seen no evidence that it harbors any more bacteria than any other bedding would have. I have never had any of my poultry have an impacted crop. I am not sure what causes impacted crop but suspect that it has more to do with the unnecessary treats that people feed their poultry.

Sand drains very well. I never have any mud here. The only thing that drains better than sand is gravel.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

I live on a sand dune. Sand is the base for everything including the coop floor and the run.

Whether or not sand is an insulator is irrelevant to me. I have seen no evidence that it harbors any more bacteria than any other bedding would have. I have never had any of my poultry have an impacted crop. I am not sure what causes impacted crop but suspect that it has more to do with the unnecessary treats that people feed their poultry.

Sand drains very well. I never have any mud here. The only thing that drains better than sand is gravel.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[R2elk]

Thank you for sharing!

Depending on your soil, if you add sand to heavy clay or bentonite, the result will end up like concrete.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

Depending on your soil, if you add sand to heavy clay or bentonite, the result will end up like concrete.

Funny you mention that... I have very clayey “soil” with large, flat, angular gravel, overlaying bentonite. I tried planting trees this weekend and had to soak the ground to break up the clay, but with each dig I’d hit a big rock and had to fight to get it out, only to have another one underneath it.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I have a large rubbermaid tote in a shady spot in the yard that's half full of sand, only half full in an attempt to keep most of the sand IN the box. They use it as grit and sand bathing. Never had a chicken with impacted crop from it. I clean it with a metal screen (kind of like a colander with larger holes) to get the big stuff out regularly. About once a year, I stuff a hose into it and let any loose particles float out, then dump it out on a concrete slab out back that I use for the occasional barbeque, to let the sand dry out. Sweep it up when dry and put it back into the tub. Been working well for me for about 13 years, with the occasional refill when it gets low. Sadly, I can't just order in a truckload of sand to cover the yard (about 1/5 of an acre, fenced), which is where my hens roam; the landlord would frown on covering his grass. LOL!

 

[feathermaid]

Well, I think sand is best if you already have it naturally occurring in your outside area with good drainage already OR, if you have it in a covered dry area. I've heard a lot of folks say it can get icky with the poop if it gets wet.

My coop is raised about 2' and I filled that area underneath with plain sand, thinking that would be a good spot for dust bathing. But my chickens much prefer using the dirt floor under the shavings in the covered run. They also took over a large flower pot in my backyard so I just moved it to their run and keep filling it with untreated potting soil after they're done kicking it all out. And I use several other different beddings according to what exposure that area will receive.

Inside the coop I have vinyl flooring with pine shavings. The greatest life-saver of all is the poop tray under the roosts filled with Sweet PDZ (better than sand) that I just scoop out like cat litter. Since most all the poo lands in the tray at night and it's a relatively small area, it's soooo easy to maintain. And the rest of the floor hardly ever gets soiled. More shavings are out in the covered run, they hold up well because they don't get wet.

But in the outside chicken yard exposed to rain and weather, I use a thick layer of chunky wood chips. The rain rinses them clean for the most part, but I also turn and rake the chips occasionally. They are very effective at keeping mud away. I can't imagine having to deal with that much sand. The reason I prefer shavings and chips over sand is because of the compost factor. The shavings only need to be cleaned out once a year when they finally go to the compost bin to finish becoming excellent garden soil. The chips will take much longer to break down, a couple/few years.

Sand doesn't compost and from what I heard, needs to be poop-scooped daily, so that's just too much maintenance for me in my larger area. I love composting action... the green material (poop) mixed with brown material (shavings, chips, twigs) breaks down the poop and invites beneficial microbes, and bugs and worms for my chickens to search for. Does that happen with sand?

Either method will require maintenance, but I just like the additional benefits that come with being able to compost. I live on a small lot in the suburbs so a sustainable rotation is important to me.

 

[aart]

sand harbors more bacteria

Ehhh....might not harbor bacteria, but it will eventually harbor pulverized poops and will stink to high heaven when damp as it will not harbor the 'right' organisms to break down the poop.
My vote is 'other', sand mixed with PDZ on poop boards.

Here's all I do:
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.

-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

-Runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.

-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 5 years.

 

[kyron4]

Curious too, as my run will be where a 30' round swimming pool once sat and is packed clay with about 3/4" of sand on top.

 

[shessowitte]

I hope this is in the appropriate thread...

Who uses sand in their coop and run? I’m arguing with my spouse right now about it because the very first information I read said “sand harbors more bacteria and isn’t a good insulator. Your chickens will eat sand covered poop and get impacted crops”.

Whereas he has read “sand is the best for cleanup and drains better than anything so you can prevent muddy, wet runs. Thereby preventing muddy, wet chickens”.

I have had my chickens on a sand/zeolite mix for a little over a year now and I love it. The sand has little to no organic material in which bacteria can flourish and the addition of zeolite keeps the sand mix nice and dry. It’s desiccating, meaning the poops dry up into little sand/zeolite covered dry scoopable chunks, easily removed. I use a 4:1 sand to zeolite ratio, but during wet weather and winter snows I increase the zeolite.

A word of caution......it’s very dusty! I use over the ear surgical masks when I scoop for protection against airborne dust and organisms like histoplasmosis spores. I have a long handled mesh scoop that I use first thing in the morning and it takes about 20 minutes for an 8’x6’ coop floor. Once a week I scoop the run since they don’t roost there so not as much poo.

We compost the sand zeolite poo for use in our garden. We have heavy clay soils in Missouri, and the sand increases drainage and actually amends the soil over time. Zeolite bonds to ammonia molecules then releases it slowly, so it’s not as “hot” for garden compost.