Here we will give you reasons for and against and let you decide whether or not this is for you and your flock. 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. But this is a coop maintenance problem more than a sand problem. You can alternate sand each year. I love it! Chicken Feeders. And despite the fact that chickens have wonderful dirt outside for dust bathing, when your girls get that itch to dust bathe, some of them dont want to have to go all the way outside. QUIKRETE Premium Play Sand (No. Because sand absorbs moisture and dries quickly, the overall moisture level in a sand coop will be lower than in other coops. You remove much of the poop through scooping, and the poop thats still left in the coop is dried out. Will this work for my run? They can be used separately or together, your choice. How deep of sand are you laying? Quikrete All-Purpose Gravel (BOM #105521) is a multi-use product for a variety of decorative and landscaping applications. It is more course than play sand. Additionally, if you use sand in a chicken tractor, the tractor may be difficult to move. That's two less things you need to worry about. Some people, however, use sand as a flooring material. For more information on silicosis and chickens, see my article, Will sand bedding kill your chickens? Heres a good tip for you: purchase and move your sand into your coop when the weather is super dry. In watching my chickens, they love nothing better than a good dirt bath. Many chickens get extremely watery poop in the summer months because they are drinking so much more water. Just got them in May. Because of this, Ive always felt more comfortable brooding my chicks on fresh pine shavings. But can I compost the poop even with the sand and small pebbles stuck to it? Therefore, it is suitable for your coop bedding material. If your run area is a muddy mess in the winter and spring, you might consider laying down 3-4 inches of gravel under the sand. Line the bottom of the run with straw or a bedding alternative. As always, do your research ahead of time. When I first began keeping chickens I used wood shavings or wood pellets inside the coop. 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. Though chicks need grit to help digest their food, sand gets sodden and can clump in the chick's crop unlike commercial grit or dirt. I have never had a problem with any of my chicks or chickens. Just for the sake of being totally accurate heresand is actually terrible at absorbing moisture, but it releases moisture so well that it just doesnt matter. Sand is being delivered tomorrow. The dust from fine-grained sands may even eventually cause silicosis in your chickens. My chickens seem to be much less interested in eating sand bedding than they are in eating organic bedding. It contains multiple sizes of particles, including small pebbles, etc. Let us know how it works for you in the comments below any problems and solutions. 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. Chicks need to be exposed to outdoor pathogens slowly, so their immune systems can build up. Next, you need to make sure there are no wide gaps in the floor. Meets ASTM C 33 specifications. Sand Commercial Medium #30 . Fine-grained play sand or beach sand do not make good bedding as these may cause major health problems for chickens. Chicken Coop & Pen Care Shop All. . Its a nasty way to go. Even More Pros In addition to the "pros" already mentioned, here are a few more reasons to choose sand for your chicken coop: Cost-effective. Think about itstraw, pine shavings, pine needles, etc. Many chicken owners use sand bedding in the brooder, but I do have some reservations about this. People get used to it, which is why you dont hear many people talking about this, but when you first get started with chickens, you really have the yuck factor when it comes to the bedding. Its a one-time deal. This means that the grains can compact easilythere is a lot less pore space, and when the grains get wet, they are very cohesive. Theres not much in between. I use about 10 bags of sand and all the old goes in my garden. 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. You have no idea how gross coops can get. Most folks do a daily poop scoop and are done. This is why you really need to see the sand in person before buying. DRY and controllable DRAFT. November 6, 2022. The ammonia in my coop got to a high level because certain types of bacteria flourish on damp bedding and release ammonia. The main reason I havent used sand is because Im worried about pathogens. We want to get the girls soon. weight limit 50 pound of All-Purpose Sand Quikrete All-Purpose Sand 50 lb. Another person mentioned the possibility of sand fleas. These sands may have high levels of bacteria, Coccidiosis, or who knows what else, that you dont want your chickens around. All Poultry Supplies Egg Care & Accessories Poultry Equipment Poultry Feed Poultry Health Products . Dry sand will often do that, wet sand normally not. Really, you dont know what youre in for until you do it. Forested and richly-vegetated areas are no strangers to rivers and creeks, and, therefore, to sand. Lol! The last thing you want is sun shining on your sand and heating up the surroundings. Me too! I am seeing the term litter more often in blogs, so maybe we are on our way! I really enjoy your newsletter and look forward to receiving it. I do hope for a vocabulary change as more and more people make the switch in thinking. As any chicken owner knows, chickens need grit to help break down their food during digestion. Quickrete general purpose sand is a washed, properly graded coarse sand with multi-purpose uses. I have seen some sands with these names that are too fine grained. You dont get the smells with sand that you do with straw, pine shavings, and the like, because the sand isnt breaking down. Pallet **Product production varies by plant. Theyd cluck a bunch, scratch around in it excitedly, lay eggs in it, and nest in it. Depending on where you live, sand may be low cost in the short run as well. 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. Others have recommended 6 inches in depth. If not, the sand could all fall out. Remember, they say that to fill an 8x12 coop with sand to a 6 inch depth, youd need about 2.5 tons of sand. ): 50 50 70 How To Get it This item is unavailable at Moses Lake Check Nearby Stores Many folks who used sand and were generally unhappy with the results had used the wrong type of sand hence many complaints were too wet, frozen, cold, etc. I live in Iowa, to Long tubes of sand here are the ones that are used for putting in your car or the back of your truck to give more traction during the winter months in the snow driving. JavaScript is disabled. Ive seen the opposite. Hey there where did you purchase your construction sand? Replace the paper towels as needed. It will depend on where you live, how readily available it is, and how far it has to be delivered (if you need it delivered). Yet, others state it is an excellent medium for inhibiting bacteria such as E. coli and coccidiosis. At worst, the chickens will get sick or even die. If you still feel uncertain about what to order, print off this picture and take it to your local gravel company. Creates a natural dust bath area and provides all the grit you could need. You may want to consider putting gravel in as well to help with drainage. 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? I do this until the sand is almost gone, then replenish (about twice a year). What can we do? Printable Info Shop Now **Product production varies by plant. Were in SC and have very wet winters. I dont know what has pooped in it. The delivery cost me $90. My girls love it, easy to dig in & easy for dusting. I have used landscape cloth in the coop; but we live in a wet climate and landscape cloth can fray and let the sand get wet so so I will put down greenhouse plastic under my sand. If you decide to use sand, make sure it is the right type. For interlocking pavers and flagstone Can also be used for interlocking brick and patio block Ideal for patios, walkways and driveways Ideal for new construction and renovation of paver applications CA Residents: Prop 65 Warning (s) Prop65 Warning Label PDF However, Ive recently learned that pine shavings are toxic to chickens. That fresh bedding smell doesnt last for long though. Another issue is that fresh poop would adhere to the sand. A regular, enclosed coop wont have that exposure to the sun inside and will actually be much cooler. Use straw, hay, or something similar to cover the flooring and nest boxes. The second reason you dont want to use play sand, or any fine-grained sands, is because fine-grained sands are really dusty. I saw them at Lowes, but there could be different kinds, I wish I knew what one is ok! If you have a waterer in your coop that ever leaks or spills a little bit, you run the risk of ammonia building up and of course, the risk of mold growing. Unlike organic bedding materials, sand is not flammable. I started my coops with pine shavings, hoping to use the deep litter method to keep my chickens warmer over the winter. It may not display this or other websites correctly. I will NEVER expose any of my chickens to pine shavings again. It may save you money in the long run. My girls (Hens) and I are so much happier for your knowledge. You cant see or feel the crop when its empty, but the more food and water it has in it, the bigger it gets. Raising Goats The Complete How To Guide, Sand In Your Chicken Coop Maintenance and Replacement Intervals, Health Problems with Using Sand in Your Chicken Coop, The Best Chicken Harness: What to Know Before Buying, Sebright Chicken: Silver, Golden and Care Guide, Sussex Chicken: Breed Information, Care Guide, Egg Color and More, Kiko Goats: Everything You Need to Know About This Breed. One argument was that it kept the chickens feet cleaner and nails shorter. All-purpose sand is considered ok. The best sand is construction, bank run, or river sand. Thanks! All purpose sand is a type of sand that has been washed to reduce dust levels. However, Ive found that when your coop is properly ventilated, its going to be cold in there no matter what, so dont expect your bedding to change the temperature that much. 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. Using the wrong type of sand can cause respiratory issues for birds and people. 1963). The picture here shows the sand that I ended up buying. I use cat litter scoops duck taped to a pole and clean up is a breeze. I had to wait for the sand to dry out. Composition and Materials: QUIKRETE Commercial grade sand is high quality silica sand. I scrape the trays every morning using a taping knife. This option is expensive, but the benefits will be better ground to walk on and fewer mosquitoes! Im in the process of moving my ladies into the coop from their current home and am planning on using approx 6-8inches of river bank sand for the coop+run bedding. The soil is a filthy mess with 12 hens when it rains and tried shavings but they get bogged down and nasty and same with hay. I thought to mix the DE with the sand in the coop and to use PDZ in the run. Therefore, it is suitable for your coop bedding material. The Chicken Chick, however, has used sand in her run for years. Chicken Health. I live in south Florida, all Ive got is sandy soil in my run. 60-Pound All-Purpose Sand Mfg.# 115260 Sku# 1920545. Sand, on the other hand, is used by certain individuals as a flooring material. I have to mix it in well or my girls avoid the DE. . Use concrete sand. However, I had to pay to get the sand delivered, and thats where it got expensive. I have looked everywhere for commercial grade sand. Quikrete. Never had a problem with ingesting it. 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 dont recommend using sand bedding in coops if they dont have floors. Can I use potting soil for chicken dust bath? But before I put the already used sand back in, I use a flamethrower on the sand, just to make sure any bacteria or germs are completely dead. Bring a kitty litter scooper with you. 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. If you havent sited your coop, nows a good time to reconsider placement and move it to a drier location. The bantams do fine too. Check landscaping places also. Having fewer flies around the coop would be nice. Ive found that sand by far exceeds the other types of bedding when it comes to whats best for my chickens. When the temp dropped to 35 BELOW we did add some dry straw to the floor for extra comfort since we dont heat our coops. Claire. I highly recommend you have extra sand, though, if possibleits cleaner in the long run. 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. These all have potential problems too, though. This means it retains the moisture from chicken poop longer than more coarse-grained sands. The first-ever written word on the subject was printed back in 1919 regarding egg farming in California. By the way, we use hay in our coop and the girls love scratching around in it! Does your chicken coop need to be off the ground? Any advice for non free-range chickens would be helpful! It is so easy to clean. One last thingif youre new to chickens, regardless of which bedding you choose, youll want to cover the bedding completely with paper towels for the first few days or even a week. Chooks can use it as grit. Will this work for my run? It is a coarse sand that has been cleaned and is suitable for use as an underlayment for brick pavers and flagstones. That could be heavy, and your floor could break down. These are not qualities you want in your bedding. Quikrete All-Purpose Sand bookafterbook Jun 1, 2020 1 2 Sort by date Sort by reaction score Jun 1, 2020 #1 bookafterbook Chirping 7 Years Apr 18, 2013 3 0 60 Southern California I have looked everywhere for commercial grade sand. Youll see that out of all possible bedding materials, sand ranks #1. 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. If you read my section below on yearly sand cleaning, youll see that I like to swap out my coop sand for a new pile of sand after a year or so. It did seem great for a lot of reasons you listed but the down side was I couldnt keep out ants, and food was getting mixed in that made it hard to get out & I worry of them eating old spoiled food. 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. Quikrete is all-purpose sand and is more course than play sand. For the new chicken owner, let me just say something else. This may cause long-term respiratory problems in your chickens, who are very sensitive to poor air quality. And if you want to see how sand lines up against the two most common bedding types, straw and pine shavings, check out another of my very thoroughly researched articles, The best chicken coop bedding: Sand vs. straw vs. pine shavings.. In a worst-case scenario, this could cause your sand to freeze. (we live in the 4 corners area) My question is this. With the deep bedding method, your bedding releases a little bit of heat as it decomposes. Adolf. Table of Contents Do chickens need grit if they have sand? My coop never smells like chicken poop, my chickens feet and eggs are cleaner. There are plenty of anecdotes where people say they use play sand and it works great. It would seem you either love it or hate it! So, Im really not sure how they determined the grain size of their supply. Cat litter scoop cleans out solids in coop, rake in run . Test it out and see how it works for you and your birds before committing to the new type better. It is ideal for coops in the summertime as long as your coop is enclosed (i.e., four walls and a roof). Research backs this up as well see my article here. My gravel company, for example, had no idea what I was talking about. 50 lb. I live in the Willamette Valley (Oregon) which has a moderate temperature throughout the year (so coop insulation is not an issue), but very wet, moist, and muddy. But for the rest of us, we want to be able to leave bedding in for longer than a week at a time, especially if we have a large coop. I ended up using this and mixing it with some dirt. Here it is: Chickens dont actually need beddingwhat they need is litter. Ive personally found that if your coop is properly ventilated, the added heat from the deep bedding method is quickly lost anyway, but others swear by this method. Medium- to coarse-grained sand is the best . Do you put sand in the nesting boxes as well? This product is fantastic for increasing the grit intake of chickens. The reasons for the for/against perspectives have merit, but some are overstated. You dont want to scoop out the poopbecause sand bedding doesnt decompose with the poop, you dont want to just put sand in your coop and leave it there untouched forever. It contains multiple sizes of particles, including small pebbles, etc. I used play box sand for my chicks because it was safe for children. Do you have sand in your coop? For a summary of the latest research on this, see my article, Pine shavings in the coop: The secret chicken killer? The chicken poop clumps up in the sand making scooping super easy, fast, and its true there is WAY less compost to deal with. I worry that the sand may have some pathogens in it from these wild animals and open range livestock. Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. It's perfect for what they need for dust I actually use this sand for my chicken coop and run. If youre planning to use sand in your run, you must prepare the ground for sand. 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. 1113) is a specially graded washed sand that has been screened for children's sand boxes. It is only in the coop though. Apparently, even the experts cant agree! I walked into the coop one morning and the smell of ammonia was overpowering. Chickens broke their legs jumping onto it. This stuff looks like what you would see on a riverbed. Twenty-two clawed feet tunneling along the fence line, weakening the defensive boundary we'd installed around their coop to make it safe. Sand In Your Chicken Coop-Should You Use It? 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. I didnt realize one of the drinkers was leaking the tiniest bit. I also live in a place that has extremely clay-rich soil, which means the mud in the winter and spring is horrendous. 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. bags Data Sheet SDS Document Related Projects: Cast Concrete Projects Garden Pools and Fountians Sandbox Play Area More From QUIKRETE QUIKRETE . And you dont have to have a leaky waterer in your coop for bedding to get dampwatery chicken poops can have the same effect. 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. The solution was easy. 1/2 Yard runs about $25 if you pick up. It does not smell, tends to be clean, is healthy for chickens. My husband shoveled the sand into the coop with a shovel like this large, heavy duty shovel on Amazon. Our blogs and articles are updated regularly with many different important topics on care, purchasing tips, fun facts, and more. This is probably the stuff that can freeze solid in winter, cook the chickens feet in summer, and has minimal insulation properties. I really appreciate your articles. This is a technical term that means it should be free of most larger particles. Not the normal purpose but I would recommend. 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 short of it: your chicken may die a horrible death if she gets crop impaction. Also, this type of sand should not be used in a brooder, in my opinion. When hurricane Irma came along and flooded the flooring, I was left with a heavy stinking mess. Next time I brood chicks (coming up spring 2021! I take the top layer of straw off every week and turn the rest. You can see its a mix of coarser- and finer- grained particles. Really, you could go as deep as you wanted. Wait, you might be thinking, havent you been saying this whole time that sand has fewer pathogens? 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. What can we add to make this right? I live in southwest Florida and was wondering if the sand you are using is the natural Florida sand in every yard?? Blast Sand Medium #4 100lb Mfg.# 10091004 Sku# 8909640. My first year raising chickens, I started with 28 hens and 2 roosters, and I felt terrible for them living on pine shavings. The following sections detail all these fantastic features of sand bedding. All my girls and boys are happy and healthy, I will always use and recommend the right sand. We have a lot of cedar trees that we use for firewood. How I use these supplies is explained in detail below. I definitely have not seen this in my coops. Product Type :Tools Package Dimensions :13.5" L X3.5" W X21.0" H Country Of Origin :United States Package Weight :49.9Lbs See more product details Customers also search What's in the box The first time I saw that I couldnt believe it that it was being sold for children to play in . My ladies take a positive delight in messing up a clean coop and creating a small dust storm! Sand bedding is low cost in the long run because you dont have to keep buying new sand. It has some little rocks in it as well. Are the pebbles on the bottom going to help with drainage? I scrape the poop into a plastic tote. In the little coop, with the bantams and large cochins, we have a layer of sand and then 6 inches of straw. You can see that the silica sand contains tiny pebbles that allow this sand to drain really well. Youll also want to prepare the ground under your coop and run, so that its higher than the area around it. Can be used as a fine aggregate in Concrete Mix Can be used to provide traction on Snow and Ice. I had to stop by and look at all their piles of different sands. This stuff looks like what you would see on a riverbed. Meaning, it needs to always be dry and you need to control the air, a wet draft mix and your asking for trouble. 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. Peat moss for chicken coop bedding: Amazing or dangerous? Im not sure how they would feel about sand and pebblesI did ask them, and they were non-committal. Pica in Goats: Why is My Goat Eating Dirt. Ive tried all sorts of different materials for my coops bedding, including pine shavings, straw, and sand. This shovel has holes in it and acts like a giant kitty litter scooper. Next up, silica sand! For those of you who are new to chickens, chickens have a crop located above their chest near the bottom of their neck. Use for underlayment for brick pavers and traction on snow and ice. I have more than 50 chickens and have had poultry for more than 40 years. I lightly spray the sand with a water spray bottle too keep the dust from the bird dander down and use a square piece of 1/2 inch hardware cloth mesh threaded over a pitch fork (could use 1/4 inch mesh if you wanted it cleaner)..makes a perfect litter scooper. The gravel company dumped my sand right next to my coop for me. 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. Just leaving it there may work for quite awhile, but if you dont keep it clean in the long term, youre going to have major coop sanitation problems. Please DO NOT use sticky fly paper in coops as flying birds will fly into it at some point. In my research, I found several different types of sand who knew? Because newly hatched chicks have not had exposure to outside pathogens yet, too much exposure too early can cause them to get sick and die.
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