flies and bad odors in the runs...what to do???

[georgialee]

I personally wouldn't do pine shavings in the run. We used to do that with my sister's mini horses and it ended up being worse when it rained again. I think the *best* thing to do is to put sand in the runs. It's pretty cheap and will alleviate your problem instantaneously.

 

[georgialee]

Quote:
It's diatomaceous earth. It is completely natural (providing you buy food grade) and will kill mites and such in bedding as well as worms if you put it in the feed.

To the OP - our TSC sells something called stall-dry that has DE in it. It's used to dry out horse stalls and works pretty well. You could try mixing that in with whatever you put in the run to try and help dry everything up quickly.

 

[Gonzo]

I swear by DE! I hade to get it at the co-op. Make sure it's food grade! type in DE in the search area, and you'll find a link with all the benefits of using DE> Good Luck!

Quote:
It's diatomaceous earth. It is completely natural (providing you buy food grade) and will kill mites and such in bedding as well as worms if you put it in the feed.

To the OP - our TSC sells something called stall-dry that has DE in it. It's used to dry out horse stalls and works pretty well. You could try mixing that in with whatever you put in the run to try and help dry everything up quickly.

 

[SPRING CREEK FARM]

Maybe I should just use the pine shavings for their coop and nesting boxes then. I can just see me now trying to lug some big ole bags of sand home in the back of the Jeep. Oh well my DH is 6'4 at about 180 lbs and he might just have to help me get it out of the Jeep this afternoon....I am thinking it might take a whole bunch of sand, maybe more than I could ever load up in the Jeep. I wonder if I could just get a load of it delivered here like we did when we were building the house? I might just check into that, after all, we had a load of sawdust brought in the same way....
Thank y'all, you are all a big help!!
Poultryhaven, I don't yet know what that DE stuff is either, but when I find out, I think I am going to have to get me some because it seems like it must help with the odor!

 

[briana1975]

Sand and DE. Should work.

 

[poultryhaven]

Thank you guys sooooo much

 

[georgialee]

Quote:
I would see if you can have it delivered. Someone on byc said a whole load was only $17. Then I guess you could just use a wheelbarrow to move it.

 

[SPRING CREEK FARM]

Oops, I made a mislick there, my DH is a not quite that puny, he is 6'4 and 280 lbs, not 180 lbs-bet y'all were thinking he wouldn't be a whole lotta help lifting all that sand!

Do you think I can get some of that food grade DE at my local farmers co-op? (Boy, they love me down there, it seems like I am in there every 3-4 days or so. I was just there yesterday!)

 

[BlackBart]

Quote:
Wow $17 a truck load thats cheap! we pay $60

DE is so expensive here that it is no longer feasible to use it, so it is back to Ag lime.

 

[LynneP]

Products made for horses are safe to use with dogs and birds, generally. I use Stable Boy powder or Stall Dri in the coop and the run. Both can safely be mixed with food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE). Combined with keeping the surfaces dry and general maintenance I have rarely seen a fly or had bad odors. We did roof our run, though.