Hydrated vs Ag Lime

[cgmccary]

I use a dolomitic lime under my roosts (the ground is under my roosts). Dolomite is CaMg(CO3)5 instead of CaCO3=Calcium Carbonate=the mineral is Calcite=the rock is limestone. Hydrated Lime will burn (has an OH component?). Crushed limestone will not. Oyster shell is crushed limestone, just instead of being the mineral Calcite, it is called Aragonite (same CaCO3 just in a different less stable crystal configuration).

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

If your taking the birds out of the area, or can do, the best for flys and odour is the hydrated lime. Yes you sprinkle it on or use a drop spreader and then till it in for fast recovery or water it in but will take longer before birds are back. It will work instantly on odor and flies and in the process correct the pH so that if your reseeding the plant has a better chance. I used it in the muddy runs when I lived at the coast and it's great but you have to rotate birds out.

Dolomite or Dolopril will work too, neither do you have to take the birds out. Sprinkle, till or not and water or not. You can also use this freely in or under the bedding in your coop without any protection for the birds. I concentrate it under the perches under and in the bedding. Makes for way less smell, flies and easy to clean up as it's a drying agent.

The advantage of the hydrated lime in the short term is that if you had sick birds and tilled it in as well as made white wash for the walls and fencing you might break the cycle of cocci, mites, lice, some bacteria and viruses. In cement floor barns or coops it can be used as a wash after taking out the bedding before you put new in to make the floor sterile. For wood often it's painted on and left to dry just like a whitewash fence. Down side is it's done quick. It's a one shot wonder kinda thing.

Adding Dolomite or Dolopril will not make things sterile the day of application but it tips the pH out of favor for most bad bugs and by drying makes the living conditions much harder. It lasts as long as you can see it or it seems to be drying.

Edit to add that we found the confusion in the past is what the supplier called the product. Some call the hydrated 'Quick' lime, and some call Ag lime 'natural' or rock lime and some call it Hydrated. Hydrated refers to the ability of the chemical to react to water, and how much of that ability is already taken up. Totally hydrated lime is no longer able to react and safe to touch your skin, but most hydrated lime sold is only partially reacted so that it mixes better. Read the bag! Contact the supplier if in doubt as to how to use it.

 

[Cetawin]

experience with this matter...

hydrated lime is harmful to the birds...it can and will kill them if they scratch around in it and eat it...it also tends to get breathed in which can cause problems. It burns their feet too.

Ag lime is safe for use around them and works nearly as well as hydrated lime. I use it in my run when DE is not available.

 

[Judy]

Ag lime and pelleted lime are fine. I like pelleted; costs maybe $1 a bag more than ag and is not dusty. Helps with odor and flies, though I also use DE for these problems. I paid $4 - $5 for 40 lbs. of pelleted.

Hydrated is really for lawns. Probably would not hurt them if watered well or if they are off the area til after a good rain.

 

[krazycow6]

Thank you all for your replies. At least I am not going to the feed store with a blindfold on now. You know how some of those people can be, think they know everything then later you find out they sold you something that could be harming your animals. You guys are great. Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[oberhaslikid]

Do NoT use Hydrated lime I have been given it by mistake at the feed store.I had blinded chickens where they would walk in it and scratch their eyes.


You want Ag lime ,Greylime, Slaglime,or Dolomite lime
It has different names in different areas.

 

[krazycow6]

So answer me this. Will ag lime, dolomite, ect. be grey in color and hydrated should be white in color. Is this correct whether it be pellet or pulverized. Some of you are saying ag is grey and some of you say it is white. Some say pulverized and some say pellets. Some one set the record straight.

 

[mdbokc]

I only know that my reactive lawn and garden lime is white, a very fine powder and is called hydrated. I won't use it on my chicken area as I am not comfortable with it. (One of my local chicken ladies uses it very lightly and says fine... but never accidentally use the masons lime for cement.) A feed store near me calls their hydrated lime, ag lime, so I would stick with a description of what you want.

The ag lime or "pelleted lime" that I do use is gray. The "pellets" are about the size of crumbles. Just what it is here. And think in terms of 4 -5 dollars a 40# bag. And I know I'm safe with it. jmho

 

[Alabama John]

There are several Hydrated Limes. Each made with a different type stone and chemical mixture and for different uses.
I use the Hydrated Lime made for Waste Water Treatment Plants bought at the County Co Op. If it stops our poop from stinking it will our animals too!!!!!
It is used in food we all eat and used to clean the water we drink if we drink city water.
it is high in Calcium. We broadcast it by hand all on the ground of our beagle pens and also our Chicken pens and leave it. It stops all bad smells and kills many insects.
We do it by bare hand and it will not burn you or your chickens. They eat any feed that falls on it or bugs walking in it. It is gone into the bare ground when it rains. They track it in the laying boxes and it doesn't hurt them nor the dogs sleeping right on it all summer.
Like I said, we humans eat and drink it ourselves.
Just use the right Lime for the right cause. Agricultural lime will not do nearly as good at stopping smell as Hydrated will.
One other tip, if fleas or mites start popping up, scatter some 20 Mule Team Borax on the ground and it will kill all larvae and when the ones living now die after their short life, that will be the end of it! This is an old remedy.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

So answer me this. Will ag lime, dolomite, ect. be grey in color and hydrated should be white in color. Is this correct whether it be pellet or pulverized. Some of you are saying ag is grey and some of you say it is white. Some say pulverized and some say pellets. Some one set the record straight.

The color makes little difference
READ the labels

Hydrated Lime is Calcium Hydroxide
What you want is Calcium Carbonate