Alternatives to Sweet PDZ

[CKfarm22]

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tractor-supply-pine-pellet-stall-bedding-40-lb

This stuff! So it's pellets but you put it in a bucket or wheelbarrow and add a little water. They expand and break apart into small pieces of pine shavings/bits. It's not like the flakey shavings you buy for chick brooders. It's much smaller. It's cheap, keeps the odor down, and scoops like cat litter. It's also great for the compost pile when combined with the chicken poop!

It’s so cheap! Is it dusty??

 

[CKfarm22]

I’d recommend a mask if you are really sensitive, irregardless of material used in coop. Chickens are dusty just by themselves.

Our teen is in charge of cleaning out the coop- no poop bards, so it’s shoveling out the bedding full of poop every so often. We make the teen wear a half face mask respirator with the screw on side filters for this task.

But, even a disposable type of mask would help.

Even with a mask, I had about a 20 minute sneezing fit and my boyfriend was like “are you okay?”

Idk i find the sweet PDZ so dusty that i have to blow the cloud of dust away from me when i scoop it lol. Luckily we don’t have the scoop the pine shavings as often but i agree, chickens themselves are so dusty

 

[Acre4Me]

Even with a mask, I had about a 20 minute sneezing fit and my boyfriend was like “are you okay?”

Idk i find the sweet PDZ so dusty that i have to blow the cloud of dust away from me when i scoop it lol. Luckily we don’t have the scoop the pine shavings as often but i agree, chickens themselves are so dusty

Depends on the mask. The type we have our teen use “seals” to the face bc of the material it is made out of, and uses the screw on filters on either side. These are readily available bc people use them for all sorts of things, and you pick the filter cartridges that best fit what your are needing a respirator to filter out.

 

[CKfarm22]

Depends on the mask. The type we have our teen use “seals” to the face bc of the material it is made out of, and uses the screw on filters on either side. These are readily available bc people use them for all sorts of things, and you pick the filter cartridges that best fit what your are needing a respirator to filter out.

Yes my boyfriend has one lol. I have a phobia of things being tight around my mouth/nose so i don’t use it because i don’t like the feeling of it and i feel like i’m being suffocated even if it’s helping me breathe lol. I can thank my 30+ surgeries for that phobia.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

It’s so cheap! Is it dusty??

Nope! I mean I'm sure there's some microscopic dust, but it's nothing near the dust level of cat litter. Once I found this stuff, I was so happy. I actually love the smell. Makes the coop smell like a log cabin or something when it's fresh lol. I also use it in the nest boxes, and this winter I have been mixing it 50/50 with sand for a dust bath and my chickens love to bathe in it. I always have a bag or two of this stuff on hand.

Edit: Saying that I use it in my dust bath makes it sound like it's dusty but it's really not. Mixed with the sand, it forms a dry soil-like consistency that they like to bathe in. Just wanted to clear that up lol. Try this stuff! It's so cheap, you won't regret it. I even sprinkle some of the pellets in muddy areas of my run to make it less messy. It's magical stuff.

 

[NatJ]

I tried what I think is essentially the same thing - wood pellets for pellet burning stoves. They were 100% wood, no binders or anything like that. If I let them soaked in a bowl of water, they expanded and fell apart. In the coop, they didn't change shape. It was too dry, I think.

If you want them in little pieces, but the coop is dry, just make them fall apart first (in a bucket or wheelbarrow with some water.)

I've done it several times. They don't need to get really soaking wet, just damp enough to come apart. Add some water, stir, check back in a few minutes, repeat as needed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tractor-supply-pine-pellet-stall-bedding-40-lb

This stuff! So it's pellets but you put it in a bucket or wheelbarrow and add a little water. They expand and break apart into small pieces of pine shavings/bits. It's not like the flakey shavings you buy for chick brooders. It's much smaller. It's cheap, keeps the odor down, and scoops like cat litter. It's also great for the compost pile when combined with the chicken poop!

I may have to look into these, the price is much more reasonable than PDZ that's for sure!

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Nope! I mean I'm sure there's some microscopic dust, but it's nothing near the dust level of cat litter. Once I found this stuff, I was so happy. I actually love the smell. Makes the coop smell like a log cabin or something when it's fresh lol. I also use it in the nest boxes, and this winter I have been mixing it 50/50 with sand for a dust bath and my chickens love to bathe in it. I always have a bag or two of this stuff on hand.

Edit: Saying that I use it in my dust bath makes it sound like it's dusty but it's really not. Mixed with the sand, it forms a dry soil-like consistency that they like to bathe in. Just wanted to clear that up lol. Try this stuff! It's so cheap, you won't regret it. I even sprinkle some of the pellets in muddy areas of my run to make it less messy. It's magical stuff.

Is that something that can be sifted like kitty liter? Is there any risk with the birds eating it and it swelling in their systems?
EDIT: re-read your post which literally says scoops like cat litter.
Still interested in choking risk because the feed I use is pellets. My chickens aren’t known for their intelligence.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I may have to look into these, the price is much more reasonable than PDZ that's for sure!

Same. I wear a simple mask but I still imagine my chest is full of PDZ and chicken dander. an alternative would be nice.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Is that something that can be sifted like kitty liter? Is there any risk with the birds eating it and it swelling in their systems?
EDIT: re-read your post which literally says scoops like cat litter.
Still interested in choking risk because the feed I use is pellets. My chickens aren’t known for their intelligence.

Yeah I just scoop it with a cat litter scoop since I only have it in my litter boxes right now (using some fall leaves as bedding on the coop floor for the winter). But I have also seen people cover the end of a small rake with hardware cloth, and then it becomes like a giant cat litter scoop that you don't have to squat down to use! Pretty cool.

And no need to worry about choking risk. It looks nothing like a pellet once you add a little water and let the pellets expand. And it's too small to choke on. I've seen my chickens eat fruit I've given them that got some of the pine shavings on it. No issues. It's 100% natural and no chemicals. I think they just poop it out no problem. And my chickens are VERY dumb too, so I'm sure they've eaten plenty of it by accident and are fine lol. It's like very soft, small bits of pine. Not splintery or hard.