Alternatives to Sweet PDZ

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

For anyone interested, I actually realized I had a bucket of it sitting on my porch. This is what it looks like after you let the pellets expand.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

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.

Great feedback!! Thank you so much.
I currently use 50/50 construction sand and PDZ on boards and catch my chickens eating all the time despite having a bin of grit (which they use). Maybe they are like dogs that eat their own . Anyway, I have to give this pine pellet stuff a go if not for the dust then to offer a form of fiber

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Great feedback!! Thank you so much.
I currently use 50/50 construction sand and PDZ on boards and catch my chickens eating all the time despite having a bin of grit (which they use). Maybe they are like dogs that eat their own . Anyway, I have to give this pine pellet stuff a go if not for the dust then to offer a form of fiber

Great! Best of luck! If you end up not liking it, it has plenty of other uses around the yard and garden, so it shouldn't go to waste.

 

[AnnPann]

Great! Best of luck! If you end up not liking it, it has plenty of other uses around the yard and garden, so it shouldn't go to waste.

It's also great cat litter, if you have cats. I've just discovered that use for it, and am now considering using it in place of PDZ now too b/c I also hate the dust.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

It's also great cat litter, if you have cats. I've just discovered that use for it, and am now considering using it in place of PDZ now too b/c I also hate the dust.

Yeah it's great stuff! It's funny, I actually don't even know what PDZ is lol, but judging upon what I've seen here, it seems overpriced and dusty. And idk if it's all natural, but the pine shavings are, so it's a win-win!

 

[Sammster]

I use sand on the floor of my coop and PDZ in the roost's poop-bin. It's definitely dusty! I may switch the poop bin over to sand. It's just as easy to clean, and it's so cheap!
These are the scoops and mask I use for the job. I am a daily scooper, just out of personal preference. It could go longer.

Edit: just saw your comment on masks. I guess this one won't work for you

 

[Sammster]

I'm definitely going to have to try those pellets! I didn't realize you were supposed to wet them. So, adding that small amount of moisture in the winter would be ok in the coop? Might it freeze and clump?

 

[NatJ]

I'm definitely going to have to try those pellets! I didn't realize you were supposed to wet them. So, adding that small amount of moisture in the winter would be ok in the coop? Might it freeze and clump?

After they fall apart into sawdust, they never go back into pellets. So they just need to get wet once, not stay wet all the time.

So you could put them in the coop damp, and they will probably dry out there.

Or you could let them dry again (maybe in a wheelbarrow), and then put them in the coop.

Whether you are "supposed" to wet them depends on what you are doing. For example, in a horse stall, the horse will do the wetting (urine). For cat litter, they will gradually fall apart as the cat uses the litter box, or you can wet them in the beginning to make them come apart.

When I used them as cat litter, I left them as pellets. I would scoop any chunks (droppings) as soon as I noticed them. Meanwhile, the pellets kept gradually coming apart as the cat used the litter box. Every week or so, I would use a kitty litter scoop to sift it all: the pellets went into a second litter box to be reused, and the sawdust (which contained the cat urine) went into a compost pile. That way I got the urine out because it was in the UN-clumped stuff, backwards of the usual method with clumping litter but about the same amount effective. Overall, it smelled less than the other styles of cat litter I tried.

 

[aart]

I actually don't even know what PDZ is lol, ....... And idk if it's all natural,

It is all natural, it is the mineral zeolite.

You can use other things for bedding,
but nothing will equal PDZ's ability to absorb nitrogen/ammonia.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I'm definitely going to have to try those pellets! I didn't realize you were supposed to wet them. So, adding that small amount of moisture in the winter would be ok in the coop? Might it freeze and clump?

That's the tricky part. It's best to do it when it's not freezing temps so the excess water can evaporate. Then once I do the majority of the coop floor, I can just add more in small batches as needed by expanding some in a bucket and letting it sit indoors by a heat vent for a day or two.