Since it dries up so quickly, once turned, it breaks up easily. Sand may be used in the run. I have more on this topic in the section below, How to clean sand bedding in your chicken coop, but I do scoop out the poop every day in my small coop and once every 1-2 weeks in my large coop. Its so obvious, but somehow, weve all missed it (or at least most of us have). How in the world is your bedding getting soaking wet? But this is a coop maintenance problem more than a sand problem. This happened to me my first summer raising chickens. Medium- to coarse-grained sand makes excellent chicken coop bedding in coops that do not have drainage problems and do not get wet inside. The second reason you dont want to use play sand, or any fine-grained sands, is because fine-grained sands are really dusty. My chickens dont like to leave the coop as much in the bad winter weather, and dust bathing in the sand bedding not only keeps them healthier but gives them something to do. My chickens seem to be much less interested in eating sand bedding than they are in eating organic bedding. I suspect this is the same for chickens as they have very sensitive respiratory systems. One of the benefits of sand in a covered run is that chickens can dust-bathe all year long. And, if your chickens sense danger at any time, they can stay hidden for quite a while without eating as long as their crops are full. For another example, the Happy Chicken Coop blog estimates that sand costs between $25-$40/ton. 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. With the deep bedding method, your bedding releases a little bit of heat as it decomposes. It tends to be super dusty even when the bag claims it has been washed.Newly delivered sand is typically moist from being washed and stored outside. This is because sand has great insulating qualities. Hay is inappropriate due to harmful mold spores and dust.Alternative Litter Materials for Growing Poultry, Jesse L. Grimes, Extension Turkey Specialist. Sand is heavy and may not be a feasible option for physically limited chicken keepers or inlarge chicken tractors. 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. Garden centers, landscaping and construction companies are all good sources too. Poult. I mentioned above that if some of my chickens dont feel like going outside, they will dust bathe in the bedding. See my article here for more info and sources. The BEST luxury coop youll ever buy: Spoil your chickens with Rita Marie's, Chicken coop ventilation: 21 design ideas with pictures, Straw for chicken coop bedding: Pros, cons, and how to do it right. One of the biggest concerns about using play sand in the coop is that when your chickens inevitably eat some of the sandand believe me, they will eat some of their bedding no matter what youre usingthe play sand can cause crop impactions. Conventional types of bedding, like pine shavings and straw, can be purchased from your local farm store. However, I had to pay to get the sand delivered, and thats where it got expensive. Sand decreases Coccidiosis problems because coccia require warm, damp environments with oxygen to sporulate. Chickens are able to acquire a natural immunity to coccidiosis gradually without contracting the intestinal disease from an overpopulation of disease-causing oocysts promoted by wet litter. Ive tried all sorts of different materials for my coops bedding, including pine shavings, straw, and sand. Droppings boards are essentially a shelfthat catches droppings produced from chickens roosting at night. May I ask what vendor you use to buy your sand? Our beach sand is fine in texture. However, many gravel companies dont have a special name for the sand. The yearly cleaning can be very labor intensive (more on this below). Because play sands are made through crushing quartz grains into very fine-grained pieces, this type of sand clumps together a lot. Any stray droppings found inside the coop are easily removed with a kitty litter scoop or sifter. There is no risk of crop impaction with sand, in fact, sand is beneficial to the digestive tract since it is used as grit in the gizzard to break down fibrous foods before being passed in the droppings. For more on this, see my review of the scientific literature in The best chicken coop bedding: Sand vs. straw vs. pine shavings. I purchased my sand in the early fall and the day the gravel company delivered it, it rained. However, Ive recently learned that pine shavings are toxic to chickens. Their access to dust baths outside is also limited in the winter. The sand needs to be varied in texture, not homogenous. Play sand may cause crop impaction in the short term, and it may cause serious respiratory illness in the long term. If you still feel uncertain about what to order, print off this picture and take it to your local gravel company. The delivery cost me $90. Chicken breedsCoops and runsChicken careChicken behavior, BlogTerms and conditionsPrivacy policyContact me, Mama hen's guide to raising spoiled-rotten chicks. Even though we barely get rain here, the dew that collected overnight was enough to keep it just slightly damp until summertime. Think: newborn calves and lambs that live in barns and sleep on straw bedding. Youll need to look at gravel companies to source your sand. I have no idea if this is the case, but its a concern. Its an excellent feature for a prey animal, like chickens, because having their heads down eating, particularly if theyre out in the open, makes them vulnerable to predators. No, theyll dust bathe in the coop bedding instead. If the sand doesnt work, I may just brood the chicks on paper towels even though that means lots of cleaning and bedding replacement. chicken sand coop litter run When that happens, I either use a shovel to turn it or roto-tiller to freshen it up. Youll see that out of all possible bedding materials, sand ranks #1. The sand itself wasnt that expensive (about $20 to fill my 10x10 coop), but the delivery cost me $100. I leave the old sand out for the year and let it get rinsed and dried repeatedly through the year by the elements. Many chicken owners use sand bedding in the brooder, but I do have some reservations about this. The main reason I havent used sand is because Im worried about pathogens. That sounds hyperbolic, but really Im just being blunt. Then sand on top? At best, chickens living in these conditions will be extremely uncomfortable. Affectionately known internationally as The Chicken Chick, Kathy Shea Mormino shares a fun-loving, informative style to raising backyard chickens.Read on, Bators and Broodies: Confessions of a Hatch-a-holic, Sprouting Grains for Chickens: Fodder for Thought. I also was not aware, until recently, that pine shavings are toxic for chickens - more information on that in my article, Pine shavings in the coop: The secret chicken killer? Sand, on the other hand, well, youll most likely have to find it at your local gravel companysee more on this topic below, in my section, Where do you find sand for chicken coops? Inexpensive linoleum placed on top of wood flooring before adding sandmakes deep-cleaning the coop a breeze. Im not a fan of the bagged sands found at Home Depot & Lowes, for example. It didnt dry out until summer the next year. I worried something was wrong with her. And a word of cautioneven if you find sand with the names above, make sure you look at the sand before purchase. This is because the sand is blocking the passageway out of the crop. Sand. To fill my 10x10 coop with 3.15 cubic yards of sand, I spent about $20 for the sand. For example, play sand (see my section on play sand above) isnt good for coops, and neither is any sand that has been exposed to high bacteria levels, such as from areas of standing water. Because my chickens are free range, I have not bothered putting bedding in their run (and their runs are not covered). I visited the gravel company to see what they had available. Home improvement centers usually carry bags of sand at a less economical prices than bulk sand, but caution must be used to be certain the sand is natural, not manufactured. Crop impaction from sand is most common in chicks, but some chicken owners have said this has happened with their adult chickens as well. 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. And also keep in mind that this sand will last me for years, so in the long run, its much cheaper than buying organic bedding Id have to replace every 2 weeks to a month. The correct sand type goes by a great many names, washed construction grade sand, bank run sand, river sand, equestrian sand, etc. Provided it is sifted periodically to remove chick poops, sand lasts much longer than other types of bedding, making it extremely economical. While it is uncommon for baby chicks to ingest litter when feed is available, its better to allow them to become accustomed to starter feed for a few days before introducing any litter into the brooder, opting for paper towels instead. This means it retains the moisture from chicken poop longer than more coarse-grained sands. Bring a kitty litter scooper with you. No studies have been done on chickens. Replace the paper towels as needed. I scrape the trays every morning using a taping knife. Thank goodness for husbands who support your chicken addictions! Additionally, crop storage allows chickens to digest their food while they are sleeping at night (they love to go to bed with a full crop). If you are using electricity in your coop, theres always a chance of fire. This is simply because your coop will have so much less wet poop in it, and because sand is inorganic and not breaking down. Sand likely does not insulate as well as organic bedding if the organic bedding is used in the deep litter method. In her book, Hatching and Brooding Your Own Chicks, esteemed poultry author Gail Damerow discusses sand as brooder bedding, saying, (Sand) is not as absorbent as other types of bedding, but it absorbs heat more readily and evaporates moisture more rapidly and therefore stays drier. When I made the choice to try sand, I called up my local gravel company and gave them the sand names I had read about from others online: construction sand, river sand, and bank sand. And only sand. Its unfortunate that we all call our litter bedding because this is how weve completely missed the point. But there are also plenty of anecdotes where play sand has caused major problems. Sand can be purchased in bulk at local quarries relatively inexpensively. The drier and cleaner a coop is kept, the healthier the environment for the flock. When I first added sand to my coop in the heat of the summer, I was amazed at the huge reduction of flies. Maryland Poultry Veterinarian, Dr. McKillop, DVM, MSpVM, DACPV states, Sand is a wonderful litter/ground source for backyard poultry. Some chicken keepers have said sand was really cheap for them, but my sand cost more. And when I used pine shavings or straw bedding, I just felt awful my chickens were living in their own filth, which isnt a natural way for them to live. I scrape the poop into a plastic tote. Pine shavings are a very good litter choice, but scientific research and personal experience has proven that sand is even better! I definitely have not seen this in my coops. Dont use sand if your coops going to be wet insidebut really just dont let your chickens live in wet coop conditions. But to give you an idea of how much sand you might need, I needed about 3.15 cubic yards of sand to fill my 10x10 coop to a 4-5 inch depth. Stay away from play sand. This then prevents the chicken from being able to digest any foodthe crop just gets bigger and bigger, the more the chicken eats. A shovel and broom make quick work of the annual task in my coops. Soiled sand doesnt stick to feet like other types of bedding can. Chicken Coop Litter: Sand, the Litter Superstar, The Chicken Chicks Guide to Backyard Chickens, for 5 Tips for a Cleaner Coop with Less Effort, Weeks, Charles,San Francisco, Schwabacher-Frey Stationery Co., 1921, Sand as Litter for Rearing Broiler Chickens. This may cause long-term respiratory problems in your chickens, who are very sensitive to poor air quality. Eggs in nest boxes remain cleaner in wet or muddy outdoor conditions because hens feet are cleaned and dried while walking through sand toreach nest boxes.Aesthetically, sand looks cleaner than other litter option and is cleaner; the Auburn University researchers found coliform counts, including E.coli, significantly lower in sand than in wood shavings. Click HEREfor 5 Tips for a Cleaner Coop with Less Effort, Testimonials from chicken-keepers:Facebook thread #1Facebook thread #2Facebook thread #3Facebook thread #4Facebook thread #5, Egg Farming in California, Weeks, Charles,San Francisco, Schwabacher-Frey Stationery Co., 1921Sand as Litter for Rearing Broiler ChickensS. It is ideal for coops in the summertime as long as your coop is enclosed (i.e., four walls and a roof). Although it was not my experience when I used the deep bedding method, many say their coops are noticeably warmer with this method. Additionally, if you dont have an extra pile of sand to swap ini.e., you only have enough sand to fill your coop and no extrathen I definitely recommend the flamethrower step. B. Hess, J. P. Blake, K. S. Macklin, and J. L. Sibley, Auburn University,2005 J. Appl. And you can even buy pine shavings on Amazon and have them delivered to your front door! Poultry visionary, Charles Weeks wrote of the benefits of sand as chicken litter in his 1919 book, Egg Farming in California, in which he stated: Sand is the only material to use on the floors of poultry houses. Sand in the coop is an excellent source and is readily available in the winter months when outside access to grit is limited. I also live in a place that has extremely clay-rich soil, which means the mud in the winter and spring is horrendous. Does sand make good chicken coop bedding? The use of sand in the chicken yard or run is ideal in especially wet climates since water drains through the sand instead of creatingmud puddles filled with decomposing straw or wood shavings. Bedding is material that animals bed on. What makes a good litter? Many people rely on the deep bedding method to keep their coops a few degrees warmer in the winter. I use this brooder heating plate from Amazon in my brooder (the chicks love it!). Perhaps for the same reason, sand is more resistant to microbes than other types of bedding, keeping baby birds healthier. Heres a good tip for you: purchase and move your sand into your coop when the weather is super dry. 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. NO! Good litter has these characteristics: This is sand! Coop sandshould not be manufactured by crushing quartz. Yeah, thats rightdo some research. In a worst-case scenario, this could cause your sand to freeze. The dust from fine-grained sands may even eventually cause silicosis in your chickens. Perhaps buy a little extra sand to err on the side of caution. If you know youre not going to be motivated to scoop out the poop daily or at least once every few weeks, your sand will eventually need to be replaced with brand new sand. Because of this, Ive always felt more comfortable brooding my chicks on fresh pine shavings. Your sand, or any other type of bedding, should always be dry. Every 1-2 weeks, I use a shovel with holes in it, like this shovel from amazon, to remove the poop on the floor in my large 10x10 coop. It never occurred to me to use sand inside the chicken coop even though I used sand in the run, but when Facebook fan Kelly V. enthusiastically vouched for sands performance in her chicken coops, I had plenty of sand on-hand already, so I figured it couldnt hurt to experiment. It really is such a nicer living environment for your girls and roos. I know a lot of city dwellers take this approach, and its a lot cleaner. 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. Keeping Garden Chickens in North Carolina. For more information on the coop design topics discussed here, see my articles: 8 chicken coop floor options: The best flooring materials for your coop. Its a nasty way to go. It doesnt take long. The winter coop is a lot poopier than the summer coop. The benefits of sand are many. Think about itstraw, pine shavings, pine needles, etc. Due to its high thermal mass, sand maintains more stable coop temperatures; the Auburn University researchers found that sand keeps chicken houses cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. 14:238:-245.Sand as Alternative Litter Material, University of Kentucky 2008 Keeping Garden Chickens in North Carolina. With all litter types, it is infinitely better not to keep the flocks drinking water inside the coop. That fresh bedding smell doesnt last for long though. The construction supply company I get my sand has changed what they call it from year-to-year, so when sourcing sand, its better to see or describe the desired product rather than insist on a certain label. You dont know which way its gonna fall for your chickens and coop. Here it is: Chickens dont actually need beddingwhat they need is litter. It stays drier than all other types of bedding. litter chickens coops should chickencoop For the new chicken owner, let me just say something else. This important piece of information comes from the Chicken Chick. She says that if the sand does get wet, you just need to turn it with a shovel or a rototiller. Once a year I remove the sand from my coops, clean the entire coop and fill it with fresh sand. Although sand may save you money in the long run, it may be expensive in the short run. I had to stop by and look at all their piles of different sands. So there my chickens were, covering themselves in poopy, decomposing pine bedding, looking so innocent and gross. Heres another good trick to make sure you get the perfect size of sand. Although there are some treatments for crop impaction if caught in time, you want to avoid this condition at all costs. 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. You can learn more about it here. This is not a sand problem, but a maintenance problem. You cant see or feel the crop when its empty, but the more food and water it has in it, the bigger it gets. What does this mean? We need to elevate our coop and run due to a sloping hill nearby and muddy soil when it rains. How I use these supplies is explained in detail below. These all have potential problems too, though. The photo above was taken in the middle of winter during a week with sub-zero temperatures. Pine shavings have not been sitting fully exposed in the great outdoors. 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. I do hope for a vocabulary change as more and more people make the switch in thinking. The last thing you want is sun shining on your sand and heating up the surroundings. In inclement weather, sand inside the coop is dry and dust-bath ready! Another concern has to do with heating a sand-filled brooder. My gravel company, for example, had no idea what I was talking about. Youll also want to prepare the ground under your coop and run, so that its higher than the area around it. You can see its a mix of coarser- and finer- grained particles. And, once again, the research also backs this upsand bedding keeps a coop cooler. Because sand is so good at insulating, I worry it may retain too much heat under the brooder heating plate. And you dont have to have a leaky waterer in your coop for bedding to get dampwatery chicken poops can have the same effect. For the same reasons, sand coops have markedly fewer flies. Additionally, respiratory illness can take months or years to develop. The last thing I want in my coop was a droppings-laden mat of respiratory trouble for my chickens. Your chicks are just learning what to eat, and they may eat the bedding, leading to crop impaction and death. Its probably easiest to just to let your gravel company know how big your coop is and how deep you want it filled, and then ask them for a quote. The Chicken Chick, however, has used sand in her run for years. No, beach sand is not appropriate. Here I discuss all the nitty gritty details of my experience with and research on chicken coop sand, including: Can you use play sand in your chicken coop? When it gets wet or rains, it drains, sand is easy to clean, and its a wonderful medium for dust bathing. Really, you dont know what youre in for until you do it. The chickens looked much less miserable in the coop. Each year or so, I take the sand out of the coop and put new sand inthis is why I recommend buying twice as much sand as you need to fill your coop. You have no idea how gross coops can get. Sand is the cleanest type of bedding out there, simply because it doesnt degrade. Chicks need to be exposed to outdoor pathogens slowly, so their immune systems can build up. Res. Sand also helps with odors by drying out the poop relatively quickly. If they didnt have their coop sand, Id have to make special arrangements to make sure they were able to continue dust bathing outside. 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. I am seeing the term litter more often in blogs, so maybe we are on our way! If your sand is so coarse it wont fit through your scooper, youre going to have a hard time cleaning the poop outmore on cleaning sand below. They should also have less exposure to parasites, like worms. When the chickens come in from free ranging, they drag in the mud which also gets the nesting boxes and eggs filthy. Im a complete newby at this! I described how gross this is with moister types of bedding that break down, like pine shavings, and how sand makes a world of difference. Sand bedding is low cost in the long run because you dont have to keep buying new sand. But dont take my word for itthe scientific research backs me up on this (see my article, The best chicken coop bedding: Sand vs. straw vs. pine shavings for more information).