Why I LOVE sand in my brooder!

[flossyandprissy]

Im a lil worried about that but im mostly worried about univited guests in the coop who could just slither in during the day (im free rangin during the day)

No harm in trying! Might not be a problem at all.

 

[rockmissjess]

Im a lil worried about that but im mostly worried about univited guests in the coop who could just slither in during the day (im free rangin during the day)

I get my chicks mailed on the 10th so i have time to build their coop... its worth a try in their coop... but in their brooder i am using pine shavings... (already bought it) lol im waiting anxiously for them..

 

[subhanalah]

My chick's just want to eat the sand. It wouldn't work for my little buggers.

 

[rockmissjess]

My chick's just want to eat the sand. It wouldn't work for my little buggers.

u do know that the construction sand doubles as grit right?

 

[flossyandprissy]

My chick's just want to eat the sand. It wouldn't work for my little buggers.

As they should. Its grit.

 

[subhanalah]

Oh yes, but it's all they want to do. I'm not in the mood to deal with an impacted crop because they overdid it on grit. At least I've been warned of this being a problem for babies being offered free choice grit. I'd rather avoid problems if I can. That's why I tried it but kept them supervised. They were just chowing down on it like it was pop corn or something!

 

[flossyandprissy]

Oh yes, but it's all they want to do. I'm not in the mood to deal with an impacted crop because they overdid it on grit. At least I've been warned of this being a problem for babies being offered free choice grit. I'd rather avoid problems if I can. That's why I tried it but kept them supervised. They were just chowing down on it like it was pop corn or something!

Oh man. Yeah. No good.

 

[flossyandprissy]

Im wondering why your chicks eat too much sand. Think its the breed? I have Stars and Rhode Island. Think its the age? I used paper towels on puppy pads til they were a week old. Think its the forage training? I put some feed on the paper towels to help them learn to peck it off the ground. Now that theyre a couple weeks old I sprinkle some on the sand and they scratch and peck the food. Never seen them eating a lot of sand. Trying to figure this out for my future use and for the benefit of others.

 

[subhanalah]

Well, I'm using aragonite which is mostly crushed shells or some other mineral composition.
I had some play sand around here, but it's made out of silica so I wasn't sure if I could use it. Says right here in this thread that silica is bad for them. They are also young chicks. Maybe I'll give it another try after they are a bit older.

 

[MandiB]

I did it! I built them a bigger box yesterday and got sand (paver sand..it had bigger pieces no silica) at Lowes. It took an entire 40 lb bag and some "desert sand" I put on top (this was larger pieces, too and I thought I'd try it).

I put the first one in and then the second and suddenly the cheeping got super loud. Put them all in and it was like a chick party! They were scratching and pecking at it and hopping up and down, running and flapping. It was so cute. They were really pleased and seemed to enjoy kicking it.

I put down food on a paper towel so they'd get it, tough I saw a bit of sand tasting. When I checked on them later they had spilled their water. thank goodness I'd put a folded puppy pad under it which absorbed most of the water. The sand was a bit damp, but I turned it and put done paper towels down and refilled the water. They must have knocked it over while hopping around.

All was well before bed. Eating from the feeders and a bit of scratching. I'm buying more sand today so I get it a. It deeper in there. Scooping was a breeze with a reptile scoop (made of mesh).