Baking soda OK to till in the floor base?

[HenPenny]

I cleaned out a pantry and had several old boxes of baking soda. I thought I would spread it in the sand in the floor of the chicken coup. Will it harm the chickens in any way?

 

[speckledhen]

Well, I wouldn't do it, no. The high salt content is dangerous for the birds and they will consume it.

 

[Keltara]

I personally used Sweet PDZ mixed in with my sand, but honestly I feel that It was all in vain. The sand is so wonderfully easy to clean and there really is no smell in my coop. I don't believe it is due to the Sweet PDZ, I think it due to how clean sand is in a coop. It is awesome. Even on the hottest days, my coops smells wonderful!

 

[chicken_noob]

When you use the sand in the coop, how deep do you go with the sand?

 

[Keltara]

Quote:
It's about a 1/2 inch deep. Our coop is raised, so my husband just put a little trim at all the openings to keep the sand from falling out. I want to reiterate that my coop is literally "smell free". I have absolutely no problem with flies. I'm not sure if the sand is controlling the mites or not, but my hens are bug free as well. I highly.....HIGHLY recommend sand! Construction sand is best because it has sharp edges which helps to keep the chickens feet in good shape. It takes me less than one minute to clean it each day with a kitty litter scoop. The poop dries as soon as it hits the sand so it doesn't get smelly. My coop is right by the woods so I just scoop it out and fling it into the woods. My coop floor is 4x4. We plan to put sand in our run as well. I'll probably rig a fine mesh (home made) scoop at the end of a pole once we get sand in the run. There's not too much of a rush for that since our birds free range during the day. Sand is awesome! And honestly, less than a minute per day to clean it!

 

[mwenstrand]

I have used sand too, works wonderfully.