# using sand in chicken yard -- too hot?



## Autumn (Jun 18, 2016)

I'm thinking of putting down sand in my chicken yard, but I'm wondering how it works when it gets very hot. Does the sand hold the heat (like on a beach on a really hot sunny day) making the chickens hotter? We live in Iowa, so we don't have blistering Arizona type heat, but it gets pretty hot at times. Part of the yard is shaded by grape vines and part is open to the sun. (And usually they are allowed to run around the pasture, but there are times they need to stay in their yard, and on hot days they don't like to roam too far anyway.) I've heard lots of folks rave about sand, but I've always wondered about this part.

Thanks,
Autumn


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Hi, Autumn! Any soil is going to be hot in the direct sun. Sand is good, in the run and coop. It's not going to hold heat nearly as much where you are as it does on the beach.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

And the birds really love it when it's damp. If you've got a hose close enough to spray it down it sucks the heat out of it and the birds can cool off on the damp sand.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Chickens dig holes in the sand and lay in the holes where the sand is cooler. They do the same with dirt. However when there's a downpour, sand absorbs the water and dries quicker just like at the beach. Mudholes/puddles are nasty and we all know chickens love to drink out of them. Sand doesnt usually wash away in hard rains neither. Sand also helps deter insects/parasites and it's easier to scoop poop.
Here where I live, afternoon storms are common with 1-3 inches of rain per hour and sometimes the storms "train" over our area (like yesterday afternoon.) The hard rains pack the sand down into the soil. Then it may require a truckload or two of sand replenishment in the pens to keep it level with the yard outside the pens. You dont want the yard higher than the pens, flooding rainwater will flow into the pens.
I have a gutter attached to the roof of the main coop which flows the rainwater out into the yard away from the pens via a 4 inch corrugated drain hose and it works great. The two inch drain hose didnt work last summer, I found that out the hard way. It took 5 or 6 truckloads of sand to replenish the pens.
When I lived in Georgia, all my pens had sand in them and were tarped over as were the coops. Flooding rains wernt an issue and everything was high and dry. My chickens free ranged during the day.
When it comes to chickens, keeping everything as dry as possible is best.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I like sand because it sucks the moisture out of the poop.


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## Autumn (Jun 18, 2016)

Thank you for all the input. I think you all have persuaded me to try the sand. We have a lot of clay in our soil, so it gets very compacted. Thankfully it is on a slope, so it drains well, and gets a good cleaning with every thunderstorm. So I'll just have to think of what I want to do to keep the advantage of the slope without losing the sand!


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