First, I don't want anything next to my baby chicks that they can consume. I have not ever used Sweet PDZ and it may work fine for horses, but I noticed that it is a powder and dusts up.
I use an old, metal horse tank (that sprang a leak years ago) for my brooder, with a metal mesh lid.
When I prep the brooder, I fill it with several inches of garden dirt, preferably not yet composted. If you are removing soil that is spent that works well, OR, buy topsoil. Then I mix this:
http://www.planetwiseproducts.com/equine.htm
with shavings and then I top with old worn out towels, which I lay on top. I call them "chick diapers" bc I change them out every day for about two weeks. The equine fresh is 100% pine and is remarkable in how it keeps down ammonia in a horse stall. Just DON'T follow the bag directions and wet them down first! That's bc they try to get you to buy more by using it up. It soaks up liquid, turns to a dry powder (that doesn't waft up like the PDZ), and then soaks up liquid a 2nd time before you need to remove it. It is 100% biodegradable.
The towels make an excellent surface that baby chicks do not slip on.
After that, I mix the equine fresh with pine shavings until they are ready to leave.
Yes, I bleach the towels and they stay stored in plastic bags in a cabinet until they are needed again. Should I have a horse injury I can also use them as clean bandages.
