Sand not Straw for Chicken Coops!

So, what’s the big deal about sand? Well, I’ve made a list below based on my findings. 

• It’s a good insulator, it helps keep the inside of the coop a consistent and tolerable temperature. It keeps excessive cold and heat out. 
• Mites really don’t like it. With straw, mites can hide in the hollow inside of the individual straws. With sand, they obviously can’t do this, there’s pretty much nowhere in the bedding for them to hide. 
• Your chickens will have access to a consistent source of grit. Any chicken keeper will know that chickens need “grit”, some use oyster shells or egg shells. I used to bake used egg shells, stinking my house, to ensure that any germs were cooked off them and then use these crushed egg shells as grit for my ladies. This is one less thing for me to worry about now.
• Sand doesn’t retain moisture so it dries out any droppings. This makes it easier to sift them out and retain any sand that is still good in your coop. 
• If the sand is kept clean, then you can keep it in there as long as you want. It’s not going to start to go rotten at any point. 
• Straw or hay can cause crop impaction, which then causes additional work for you. Sand won’t cause this.
• It makes for great dust baths! 
• Eggs, while being a little sandy, will be cleaner. 
• It can be put on the compost pile just like you would’ve done with your other bedding. 

• It’s heavier to carry than straw. 
• It can be dusty depending on the type of sharp sand you’ve got but then so are pretty much any other types of bedding you’d use. It’s just one of those things that comes with the territory
• Chickens may be a little confused as to where they’re supposed to lay- “what no nest?!’ so it might be worth putting a spare egg/ fake egg in the nesting box until they know that they’re still supposed to be laying in the same place.

This is fairly simple, you can either use a kitty litter scoop and sift scoopfuls of sand and get rid of any “dirt” that remains in your litter scoop. 

Alternatively, you can create a bucket sieve where you just pour as much as you want through and it sieves any nasty bits out. The sand that goes through is the sand that can go straight back in your coop. I haven’t actually put one of these together yet, however, it’s on my “to do” list.

I’d highly recommend switching to sharp sand rather than using hay, straw or wood chippings in the coop. Sharp sand provides a nice amount of grit for your flock and displays all the attributes outlined above.