Sweet PDZ

[keekerschickens]

This is all so helpful! Glad you asked this question I was wondering too

 

[Calima]

What kind of sand do you mix with PDZ for the coop area and do you also put it in the run area?

 

[Talonstorm]

My coop is a mix of the kind of sand you use for concrete (from Home Depot) and PDZ. In the poop tray (under the roost) I use straight PDZ. My run is dirt. Although it doesn't rain much here, I will probably switch the run to sand soon because when it does rain, it has puddles everywhere from the dust bath holes the girls have dug. There is very little odor from my run or coop, which is awesome! I was worried about odor when I first got chickens, but so far (a year now), everything is great.

 

[Calima]

Thanks a million!

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I've had PDZ in my poopboards for 4 years now and it really helps with the smell, just need to clean the poops out regular and it stays pretty fresh.

That being said, PDZ is not a cure all for coop/run smells. It will not cure poor design or lack of maintenance. It will not help much with a poor draining wet muddy run.
Look at it this way, if you have nothing on your poop boards but clean them every morning and your neighbor has PDZ on their poopboards and only cleans it once a month which do you think will have more odor?
My setup is pretty close to the house(which the wife was very apprehensive about), so I try real hard to keep the smells under control. The only place I use pdz is in the poop boards, some of it will make it's way down into the pine chip bedding(which I just changed after 3years of service). I place straw in the run and everytime it rains I try to remove the straw and replace it with fresh.

Keeping things clean and dry is the best practice for keeping the smells down IMHO! I think of PDZ as one more tool in my arsenal along with rakes, shovels, kitty litter scoops, etc etc.

 

[Chickalish]

I do appreciate that so many peeps here seem to love the stuff and advocate hardily for it. I'd just like them to also be aware fo the other side of the coin if they might be interested in knowing that some heath concerns may come along with it's use. That being said, YES it does cut out odor if you wait long periods between coop cleanings. But in cleaning my coop daily it is a very poor choice given the discovery of potential lung damage vs VERY minor morning odor that is remedied in minutes for the rest of the day.

 

[Chickalish]

I will look in the morning to be sure. It is fine like corn starch if that tells you the difference?

 

[Chipper Chicken]

Interesting. How did you arrive at that combination? I would imagine it cuts the cost a bit? Is the pelletized gypsum easy to find? Thanks.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

Thanks! Prices keep going up on everything, it pays to know the options! This sound like a great mix.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

Well good news perhaps... I couldn't wait so I went out to the Chicken's storage shed with a flashlight.UGH...powder!  I hope the results are very different with granular and I imagine they might be.  I with that the peeps at the feed store had thought to mention there were 2 kinds since they knew I was getting it for my birds.  Hmmm, perhaps they don't know the difference themselves. Well for anyone who has tried both if you can tell me if you have or have not noitced a significant difference in the sort of problem I had this summer that would be helpful to chime in with your opinion about it.

Chickalish,
RonP just posted this idea this morning and I thought it might help you with the "dust" if you change out the PDZ. Less chance of you getting it in your lungs...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/dust-no-more