# Sand as bedding.



## sarahsbounty

Does or has anyone used sand in goat run/ barn? We use it in the chicken coop and then just pooper scoop it up. So easy and keeps everything clean and stink free.


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## kccjer

I don't see anything wrong with it. I'm hoping to get some sand into my pens in the barn so that they drain better. I put up my own straw so we do use that for bedding....


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## sunrisefarms17

We use sand for our cows its extremely efficient and cheaper in the long run than straw


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## Kaneel

Sand is a lot easier to clean out. We used it in all our pens for FFA. However you need to make sure you scoop all the pee out regularly, otherwise it sinks in deep and you get a terrible ammonia smell that you have to bleach out. However it works great when your doing poop, you can rake it up and scoop no problem, and it works almost as well as cat litter for urine. I hope to get some soon myself


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## LeahMeit

sarahsbounty said:


> Does or has anyone used sand in goat run/ barn? We use it in the chicken coop and then just pooper scoop it up. So easy and keeps everything clean and stink free.


Question regarding this...
Does this mean NO straw/hay? Like for nests? I don't get it.
I like the idea of pooperscooper.


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## sarahsbounty

LeahMeit said:


> Question regarding this... Does this mean NO straw/hay? Like for nests? I don't get it. I like the idea of pooperscooper.


We have shavings in the nest boxes but sand in the coop. I just go out and scoop it up like cat litter every morning. It takes 2 minutes. And no bad smells. I won't do it any other way. For chickens though, you have to be careful with the type of sand , NO silica. We have construction sand I think it's called has more little rocks in it. I got it from a masonry in town. I don't have goats yet but wondered if there would be any problem with sand for them too. Obviously it's a little different in winter, they will get some straw to bed in.


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## sarahsbounty

We have sand in the coop and pine shavings in the nesting boxes. I just go out and scoop the poop every morning and it's all cleaned up in 2 minutes. Do not use sand with silica in it, however. It's supposedly toxic to chickens. We used construction sand from the masonry in town. It has more tiny rocks in it. Winter will be different, they will get straw out in the enclosed part of the run since they won't be free ranging as much and poop will be accumulating more. I assume it can be done similarly for goats. I hope.


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## CAjerseychick

sand is ok, but my coop is raised and the floor has cracks in it (apparantly, they are not really visible) so it all leaked out, over time.... I like shavings with a thick coat of DE over it its similar but the shavings prevent everything from leaking out (my minis bed down in the coop with the chickens).....


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## ksalvagno

Be careful of how much DE you put down. That can get into lungs and cause a lot of damage. The goats shouldn't be able to inhale DE.


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## CAjerseychick

ksalvagno said:


> Be careful of how much DE you put down. That can get into lungs and cause a lot of damage. The goats shouldn't be able to inhale DE.


I also put a layer of straw over the whole lot (its comfy that way) but am trying to get the little ones OUT of the coop.... its a work in progress...


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## sweetgoats

Yep I have a good amount of sand in my stalls BUT I have straw on the top, and DE under the straw. I never let the goats in the barn when i put the DE down because of the dust.


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## Goat_in_Himmel

On the topic of chickens and silica, it's _silicone_ and not silica that's the problem. Silicone as in the synthetic compound found in silicone sealer and breast implants. I don't imagine silica gel, the dessicant, does them much good either. Silica the element combined with oxygen makes quartz, one of the commonest minerals on earth, and chickens around the world peck up quartz sand for their digestion, no problem. Which is fortunate, or else chickens wouldn't fare very well on this planet!


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## sarahsbounty

Thank you for clarifying.  maybe we just need to be careful because it is irritating to the respiratory tract like DE.


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## Smallfarmer

I wish I had known about using sand in coops years ago.


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## CAjerseychick

Ohhh one other thing i am trialling out is clay kitty litter, its just clumping clay particles ( alittle less fine than sand so hoping it doesnt leak out so bad).....


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## alyssa

I use Sweet PDZ in my chicken coop and I love it. It comes in powder and granular form, I use granular so there's not as much dust. Never thought about using it for the goats, but some people use it in horse stalls to soak up urine and eliminate odor. It's all natural and safe for animals. There are never any smells near my chicken coop and all I do is scoop the poops with a cat litter scooper every so often and add more PDZ when it's getting low.


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## sarahsbounty

alyssa said:


> I use Sweet PDZ in my chicken coop and I love it. It comes in powder and granular form, I use granular so there's not as much dust. Never thought about using it for the goats, but some people use it in horse stalls to soak up urine and eliminate odor. It's all natural and safe for animals. There are never any smells near my chicken coop and all I do is scoop the poops with a cat litter scooper every so often and add more PDZ when it's getting low.


Where do we get that? You use it as a bedding material?


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## alyssa

sarahsbounty said:


> Where do we get that? You use it as a bedding material?


I use it as bedding for the chickens, yes. All the feed stores around me carry it, or you can order it online. It comes in a white 50lb bag, I pay around $15 so I'm not sure how cost effective it would be in a large area. I got the idea from a chicken forum that I go on occasionally, a lot of members on there use Sweet PDZ with the deep litter method. I sprinkle some diatomaceous earth on top of it also. The poops clump up like kitty litter, it's a dream to clean.


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## ArborGoats

What is the benefit of putting diatomaceous earth on top/under different layers of bedding? Is it antiparasitic?


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## CAjerseychick

ArborGoats said:


> What is the benefit of putting diatomaceous earth on top/under different layers of bedding? Is it antiparasitic?


Yes. I do not use any chemicals near/on my chickens and the summer before last there were little red bugs all along the wooden floor of the coop, and also in the chicken yard(never found a thing on the chickens)-- so started adding a thick layer of DE to coop floor and nest boxes and even added it to the yard, espec the dirt bath spots -- and havent seen them since.

Also now that the clay kitty litter is in play on the floor of my coop I am thinking of putting in the plastic kitty litter balls (expensive, but it sucks urrine up inside each pearl-- you can put your hand in it and it will be dry-- and lasts 3 months, for cats) into the floor mixture as the minis still bed down in there and they are peeing alot in my coop!


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## alyssa

I will forever swear by diatomaceous earth for bug control. I had a real bad ant problem for a while and NOTHING was working, so once I got my DE I sprinkled some on the patio, near the dog food, and on the fence rails to the goat pen. Those ants literally jumped off the fence to their death the minute they got near the DE. I haven't sprinkled any more in 2+ weeks and the ants still haven't come back. I put it in the planters where we used to get caterpillars that would eat up the plants like crazy, none anymore. It doesn't kill the bugs, but it keeps them away and is totally safe to use near my animals. I have the food grade DE and even mix it in with the big tub of dog food now.


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## CAjerseychick

alyssa said:


> I will forever swear by diatomaceous earth for bug control. I had a real bad ant problem for a while and NOTHING was working, so once I got my DE I sprinkled some on the patio, near the dog food, and on the fence rails to the goat pen. Those ants literally jumped off the fence to their death the minute they got near the DE. I haven't sprinkled any more in 2+ weeks and the ants still haven't come back. I put it in the planters where we used to get caterpillars that would eat up the plants like crazy, none anymore. It doesn't kill the bugs, but it keeps them away and is totally safe to use near my animals. I have the food grade DE and even mix it in with the big tub of dog food now.


Yeah we had bad ants too all in the maple tree (it has childs tree house built into it) and havent even treated the yard for 2 years and they are still gone... we just treat the coop now, the big bags (50#) arent too pricey even from the expensive feedstore, I think it was $30 something ...


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## Feta33

Bringing an old thread back. Did anyone end up using the sand in their goat pens?? I just brought home goats a week ago and have a barn with a sand base in it. It seems too dusty for the babies. Any ideas on how to cut down on the dust?


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## Goatzrule

You could water down the sand or put straw on top of it


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## Dee4

sarahsbounty said:


> Does or has anyone used sand in goat run/ barn? We use it in the chicken coop and then just pooper scoop it up. So easy and keeps everything clean and stink free.


I use sand in hen house, poo sticks to sand, then I sweep and sieve daily, just got two 5month Pygmy goats, got them fairly trained to pee pee in sand tray, got shavings in raised bed, but hard to get poo out, so thinking of putting sand bed in, and sieve out daily.
Has anyone got ideas how to skip out poo from shavings


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## goatblessings

I would try to put down mats ... sand can be hard to manage


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