I do this until the sand is almost gone, then replenish (about twice a year). Its a range of different sizes. If they didnt have their coop sand, Id have to make special arrangements to make sure they were able to continue dust bathing outside. It also comes pre-washed, making it a safer choice. Two things to remember Christine. feel free share . The leaky waterer resulted in a high amount of ammonia being produced very quickly. The tip of my roosters comb has been blue on and off for close to two weeks and now he and two out of five hens have been sneezing so Im looking to re-floor the run to see if its a respiratory issue. This year, I plan to cover one of my runs completely and try sand in it. Spread chopped straw evenly on the ground of the run so your chickens feel comfortable while they are outside. Composition and Materials: QUIKRETE Commercial grade sand is high quality silica sand. Sand, which is purchased from the gravel company, has been sitting outside for years, maybe decades. All my girls and boys are happy and healthy, I will always use and recommend the right sand. Claire. For more on using straw, see my article, Straw for chicken coop bedding: Pros, cons, and how to do it right. bag 50 lb. Another benefit is that sand does not rot like straw, hay or wood that leaves behind a stinky slime when wet with droppings or when the birds come in dripping wet (my birds dont mind some rain), so the plywood floor is better protected and stays dry. My chickens seem to be much less interested in eating sand bedding than they are in eating organic bedding. Its up to you to look carefully at each one and decide if it is valid. This is the first year we havent had even one chicken with respiratory issues. When I first began keeping chickens I used wood shavings or wood pellets inside the coop. That sounds hyperbolic, but really Im just being blunt. This then prevents the chicken from being able to digest any foodthe crop just gets bigger and bigger, the more the chicken eats. It really is such a nicer living environment for your girls and roos. Have small coop. I put wood shavings mixed with DE in the nesting boxes. Good litter has these characteristics: This is sand! You can see that the silica sand contains tiny pebbles that allow this sand to drain really well. Chicken Feed. Join More Than 15,000 Chicken Enthusiasts Who Have Already Subscribed. Thank goodness for husbands who support your chicken addictions! 1961), medium (No. Jacks. Use concrete sand. Sand bedding is low cost in the long run because you dont have to keep buying new sand. Unlike many other forms of bedding, like pine shavings, sand is a material that chickens in the wild are likely to see and live on. Sand is being delivered tomorrow. And only sand. Meaning, it needs to always be dry and you need to control the air, a wet draft mix and your asking for trouble. Depending on where you live, sand may be low cost in the short run as well. If you havent sited your coop, nows a good time to reconsider placement and move it to a drier location. Exactly! What size of drainage rock(gravel) would be most appropriate to use underneath the sand? I would avoid cedar because it can cause issues with their respiratory system. My friend told me that its not good to use cedar shavings in the coop because it has too much oil in them. We have already mentioned that sand should not be used in brooders due to the risk of crop impaction. You can alternate sand each year. The pros of using sand in the chicken coop, The cons of using sand in the chicken coop, How sand holds up against other bedding types, When not to use sand for chicken coop bedding, Exactly how to find and buy sand for your chicken coop, Lets start by getting this one thing out of the way. It contains multiple sizes of particles, including small pebbles, etc. I wish I had thought to measure the temperature difference before and after the sand so that I could give you actual numbers, but I didnt. Now that we have two large dogs my current flock have to be kept in a large pen with a coup/enclosed run in the middle. Somebody has experience with this? The last thing you want is sun shining on your sand and heating up the surroundings. Chicks need to be exposed to outdoor pathogens slowly, so their immune systems can build up. Because a sandy coop is such a cleaner coop, especially if youre scooping out poop daily or at least weekly, sand bedding contains lower bacteria counts.Chickens in a sand coop should have less exposure to other pathogens, like Coccidiosis. This important piece of information comes from the Chicken Chick. Quikrete 50 lb. I cover the plywood coop floor with about 3 inches of sand, scoop the dried poop three times a week and toss in the garden. But can I compost the poop even with the sand and small pebbles stuck to it? Chopped straw can be purchased at your local farm care store. Im thinking of trying sand, sounds good. I do use PDZ as well as Diatomaceous Earth. This is why you really need to see the sand in person before buying. The main cons of using sand in the chicken coop are: Sand is too hot in the summer in coops that arent enclosed (i.e., coops that dont have four walls and a roof and are, therefore, exposed to direct sunlight), Sand will freeze in coops that arent enclosed, coops built on the ground in areas with poor drainage, and coops without floors, Sand cant be used for the deep bedding method, Sand cant be used for compost on your garden. Because play sands are made through crushing quartz grains into very fine-grained pieces, this type of sand clumps together a lot. If not, could I mix it with dirt to make it ok? We have a creek and a river on our propertyis that sand good to use? Your email address will not be published. As a mix of smalll pebbles and coarse sand. English Close Contact Saddle Pads Shop All. Simply laying sand on top of mud may disguise the problem for a year or so. Will this work for my run? 1963). Chickens really prefer to live in clean bedding. Hemp has similar benefits to wood shavings and straw but is less expensive. This is because the sand is blocking the passageway out of the crop. Yes. This option is expensive, but the benefits will be better ground to walk on and fewer mosquitoes! When a chicken eats something, it sits in her crop before going through the digestive process. The main reason using sand for chicken coops is so controversial is because people are all talking about different types of sandand some sand is terrible to use for chicken coops. The dust from fine-grained sands may even eventually cause silicosis in your chickens. Im not worried about the pathogens harming my adult chickenstheyve already been exposed to these same pathogens while free rangingbut I dont know if the pathogen level is high enough to harm newly hatched chicks. document.write(CurrentYear) Use for underlayment for brick pavers and traction on snow and ice. This stuff is great for the birds grit intake. A giant pile of sand in front of one of my chicken coops, waiting for use in the coop next year. While actual sand fleas are not insects and will not bite humans, sand flies will bite humans and chickens and may live on the sandy floor if the climate is suitable. I have an entire article that goes over this topic in great detailif you want to see sources for all the studies showing that sand does not harbor bacteria the way other bedding types do, check out my other article, The best chicken coop bedding: Sand vs. straw vs. pine shavings. You could either hand-rake or use a small rototiller to turn it over. May be used as underlay for brick pavers. Im new to chickens. That may be the case. Ill first test that the heating plate doesnt make the sand too hot, and if it doesnt, Ill use the flamethrower on the sand to kill any pathogens. Sand has been used in chicken coops since the last century when it was first used in the California egg industry. This 2-hour course is divided into eleven easy-to-follow video lessons you can watch as your schedule permits. Sand bedding is heavier than other bedding, which means its a bit more of a workout putting it in your coop than other types of bedding. This post contains affiliate links for my favorite products from Amazon. Line the bottom of the run with straw or a bedding alternative. bags 70 lb. The type of sand I wanted was actually labeled as way less than 0.5 millimeters, but it seemed to me like most of the grains were way coarser than what was labeled. I definitely have not seen this in my coops. I walked into the coop one morning and the smell of ammonia was overpowering. Liquids drain into sand. How I use these supplies is explained in detail below. 56 2800 lb. Quikrete. I will change out the sand every 6 months but I dont need 6 inches in the coop, I use about 2 to 3 inches. Is this a good plan? Bedding is material that animals bed on. How in the world is your bedding getting soaking wet? We want to get the girls soon. Its now in the 8os but the sand is not drying out. I have never amended the sand with other products. Specifications Dimensions Assembled Depth (in inches) 17 Assembled Height (in inches) 5 Assembled Weight (in lbs) 44 Assembled Width (in inches) 13 Therefore, it is suitable for your coop bedding material. Therefore, it is suitable for your coop bedding material. Fine-grained play sand or beach sand do not make good bedding as these may cause major health problems for chickens. I had to empty the whole coop (and it was a large coop, so this took some effort), let it dry out for a couple of days, and start all over again. Pica in Goats: Why is My Goat Eating Dirt. Quikrete. Claire. I use shavings on top of feed sacks making it easier to change bedding as needed inside the chicken house which has a wooden floor and have commercial nest boxes with little or no bedding in them. Quikrete. It just felt noticeably cooler and the sand was cooler to the touch. It's perfect for what they need for dust I actually use this sand for my chicken coop and run. Does anyone know if this is a good idea? It is only in the coop though. Have you mix sand (desert sand) with manure from layer? The sand you are using is fine. If you put DE in the sand they are probably ingesting some, which keeps away worms. Perhaps buy a little extra sand to err on the side of caution. Some people, however, use sand as a flooring material. During COLD weather hay is perfect! Pine shavings have not been sitting fully exposed in the great outdoors. This meant I couldnt put the sand in the coop. The pictures below show just exactly what medium- to coarse-grained sand looks like. Conclusion If your current run is muddy in the wet seasons, Im sure this would help keep their feet cleaner and keep the nests and eggs much cleaner. Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread. You cant keep your coop dryas I mentioned above, some people said they had sand in their coop that somehow got wet and then froze in the cold weather. And when I used pine shavings or straw in my coops, the coops always had a little bit of a poop smell to them no matter what I didexcept when I first removed all the old bedding and put the new stuff in. I was thinking to put down some pavers to keep the chickens away from possible wet conditions in the coop. Printable Info Shop Now **Product production varies by plant. The picture here shows the sand that I ended up buying. How do I dry this before I put the birds out which I was hoping to be Tomorrow? People either believe that sand is a perfect wonderland or that sand is a horror story. This means that the grains can compact easilythere is a lot less pore space, and when the grains get wet, they are very cohesive. The sand used when building a paver patio or walk is a coarse builder's sand, with pieces ranging in size from 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm. Another person mentioned the possibility of sand fleas. You want your sand to be as coarse as possible, while still being fine enough that most of it will sift through your kitty litter scooper. You dont get the smells with sand that you do with straw, pine shavings, and the like, because the sand isnt breaking down. It also can be hazardous to humans over the long term. Here is a list of the supplies that I use (includes Amazon links): Flamethrower (most people dont use this). I still use wood shavings in the laying boxes. Most of the sand you buy from big box stores is going to be too fine-grained. Will this work for my run? Chicken Feeders. . Sprockets & Hubs . My girls (Hens) and I are so much happier for your knowledge. It's perfect for what they need for dust bathing and grit. Provides insulation on the floor of coop. 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