Sand in your chicken coop is a good question. Most folks use conventional bedding materials in the coop and run. Spreading straw, hay, or similar over the floors and in the nest boxes.
Some people, however, use sand as a flooring material. This prompted us to take a look at the positives and negatives of using sand as a bedding material in the coop and run.
Here we will give you reasons for and against and will let you decide whether or not this is for you and your flock.
If you decide it is for you, then we also have a section in this article about how to use sand in your coop and which type of sand to use.
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I use sand, not in the coop so much, but in the nesting boxes as a cushion to keep the eggs from cracking. Chickens don't lay down when they're laying eggs, they squat and drop them.
If I use straw, my naked necked hens just scratch it out, so they get sand during the warm months. The leghorns pretty much quit laying during the winter, so I don't worry about the insulating qualities (or lack of) if it gets wet or cold.
