Using sand as bedding

I have been reading lately about people using and as bedding in coops. I like the some of the stuff I have read like the fact that it dried out the droppings more, you can clean it like a giant litter box, and that it would help keep the hens feet cleaner leading to cleaner eggs.

Has anyone had experiences using it?

I've read good things too, but from what I understand you have to be careful and make sure you get the right type of sand that's not going to get into their lungs and cause silicosis. I don't know if that is really an issue or not, I's like to find out.

When my grandmother was raising chickens, about 70 years ago, she always emptied the wood ash pan in the chicken coup. We burned coal and wood and over the winter there must have been a foot or more of ashes in the coup. Do anybody use ashes in their coups now?

Yeah, I rarely hear anything good about it. Most reviews go something like "It sounded good so I tried it. Then it got damp and smelly and it was impossible to dry it out. It froze solid in the winter and was like walking on frosted concrete. It took me six hours to dig it all out and now I am back to shavings and I am much happier."

A better idea is to install poop trays under your roosts and fill them with stall dry. Chickens spend half their time roosting anyway, so it will cut down on your bedding usage by 50% and the stall dry dries up the poop and you just scoop it with a kitty litter scoop.

downeastacres wrote:When my grandmother was raising chickens, about 70 years ago, she always emptied the wood ash pan in the chicken coup. We burned coal and wood and over the winter there must have been a foot or more of ashes in the coup. Do anybody use ashes in their coups now?

I use wood ashes in my coop under the bedding when I clean it out.
I also put a little in the bottom of my nesting boxes.
My granny always told me it helped with the mites.

I haven't found it makes my coop harder to clean although I don't let my coop get so wet that it would turn into concrete or freeze