has anyone ever used sand/stall dry mix with shavings in brooder?

[maf2008]

has anyone ever used A 1/2 inch to 1 inch of sand/stall dry mixure under pine shavings in brooder?- just curious to see if it will keep down the wetness to prevent cocci?

I have added bedding pine shavings every few days to keep dry.... but if 2 or 3 week old chicks scratch to the wet area they get cocci - weather or not I add apple cider vinager or even any other treatments like......antibotic/ sulmet/ or corrid I thought of adding a scoop of non clumping cat litter... But it looks like the food too much.. any POSITIVE responses will be appreiciated.

Any other ideas to SAFELY absorb urine in the brooders? I use large dog cages and its hard to lift a 50 lb crate to clean under it... every single day... I want to PREVENT WETNESS -

 

[jaku]

Are you talking meaties? Have you actually HAD them get Cocci? I did a deep litter-type method up until this year, when I switched to a wire floor on my brooder (now the poo just gets collected on cardboard underneath.) The reason I ask is that your birds WILL eat large amounts of wet poo in the course of their lives. Mine "recycle" their food all the time. Simply eating wet poo won't give them Cocci, unless the poo has the oocysts of Cocci in it. That may be an issue once they get out in your coop or pasture, but with only 2-3 weeks in a brooder, assuming it's clean chips, it shouldn't be a problem. I've only lost two broilers in the brooder in the three years I've been raising them, and I've never given my birds ANY medication or vaccination.