Is sweet PDZ considered a safe and organic chicken farming option?

[annettemb]

We use sand on floor and roost boards and we love it!! We do add PDZ and DE to the sand! PDZ is pretty dusty...I am not sure I would want it as my main floor covering. That's just my opinion!

 

[MoonShadows]

That's interesting. What are those...paper towels? Guess you can just fold them up and throw them in the compost pile. You don't even have to sift through any Sweet PDZ with a kitty litter scoop.

 

[24279102]

I have tried both the granular and the powder Sweet PDZ and, although, it is dusty at first, I preferred the powder for absorption. My coop has a raised nesting and roosting area and the floor is linoleum. I cover the area under the roosts with the PDZ and just scoop it out with a cat litter scoop (usually every day) and toss it away. It keeps the smell down and the flies away in the hot south ! I love it !

 

[sigmachigirl]

We live in the Puget sound area. Between Tacoma and Seattle. . Do you live around here?

Love the coop!! I guess I'm going to have to finish our coop (paint and figure out what to do about the floor. may just suck it up and buy a roll of vinyl at Lowes, and decide what I want to do. I had seen that there is a granular pdz, I may just have to get some and play with it. I am worried about the dustiness. Even the pine shavings are darn dusty though. If you had a small 4x4x4 coop, what would you stick on the "floor"?

And your chickens are gorgeous!! Love the silver and gold laced birds. (That was what they were, right?)

 

[DLV58]

I use it in my small coop 6"by5"by5"
It dries the poo and is easy to scoop
I used a milk jug to make a scooper, just drill or poke holes in it

http://www.sweetpdz.com/our-products.html

 

[DanasChicks]

We are in Auburn.

In our smaller coop, we did the same thing, Sand and dirt floor and of course they always kick straw down there too, but it's no big deal. We don't use DE in the coop anymore, we just dust them. DE is too powdery and gets in my lungs as well as the chickens. We strive for as close to organic as we can, for the benefit of the eggs and the chickens.

Honestly, you should try a couple different things for a couple weeks to see what works best for your coop style. Some coops are all the way down to the ground and some set up off the ground. We used all kinds of different things in our first coop, which was off the ground. Cardboard, used feed sacks, straw, wood chips, etc. We experimented a bit to find what we liked best. In the end had our decision had more to do with the ease of cleaning and cost than anything. Since we have access to free grass clippings, free wood chips, free clean dirt and sand, we used those things.

Our flock free range during the day. They are pecking, laying, dusting and finding critters and bugs among all the things we used in the coop, and best of all, other than the straw, for softening up the nesting boxes, we are not putting out any money. At cleaning time, all those items can go directly into the compost, except the used feed sacks.

For those who are wondering, the white showing on the shelves in the coop are the used feed sacks laid out to catch the poo,.. not paper towels.... chicken poo is pretty heavy, I am not sure a paper towel would hold up. lol,, but good question.

 

[sigmachigirl]

Awesome! Yeah, our coop is 2 feet off the ground, and I used a big piece of cardboard then a thick layer of shavings over top. I had wanted something that would be fast to completely dump at some point when that time came, which was why I had wanted vinyl, but when I couldn't find a small remnant used the cardboard. That piece won't last forever though!! I just want something easy to keep clean, is comfortable and healthy for the birds. I do worry about my and the birds lungs, the space isn't huge do a lot of dusty material close to where they are is not ideal. More time to ponder I suppose. Wish I had access to feed sacks. Great repurposing idea!

 

[sigmachigirl]

Oh, and we're just over the hill from you. NE Tacoma.

 

[sigmachigirl]

Thank you to whomever fixed my title too!!

 

[DanasChicks]

You might inquire about feed sacks from other's who have chickens that you know or post a wanted add on CL or here on BYC. Most people just throw them away. There is nothing better in life than reusing goods. Post some pictures of you chickens and your coop. I bet they are lovely.