Moisture and odor control

I've never hear of DE for moisture/odor... I use it for lice and mite prevention. I'm operating out of tractors at the moment so I can't say I'm practiced at coop care. But we are starting to build our coop today!

 

Here are some forums I found:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/405427/drying-agents-in-coop-a-comparison

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/380622/baking-soda-for-odor-control-it-works

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/475616/best-ways-to-keep-poo-smell-down

 

I use both DE AND Sweet Pdz. May be overkill but I find the combo works great


Trish

 

Not exactly answering your question directly.....but my answer is sand as bedding and proper ventilation of coop. Even before I switched to sand, I never had a problem. Search coop ventilation here on BYC. There is a very good article written by someone with an enormous amount of experience (just dont have the link handy)

 

here is that article

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

 

I use sand and sweet PDZ, seems to work just fine. I just mix a few scoops of sweet pdz in with the sand every few/couple weeks (depends on the time of year, find I'm doing it less in the winter cause the frozen poops are less stinky)

But have to admit I've had chickens for less than a year and haven't try DE 'cause I gave up trying to find it

 

I use PDZ and DE together in my horse stalls and that's been the best combo. PDZ seems to be the best for odor control but doesn't absorb as well as others. Adding the DE has made a big difference.

 

I use plastic boot trays under the roosts to remove all of the night time droppings every morning. I just take the trays over to the composter, dump/scrape out the droppings, hose off the trays, and replace them in the coop. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes.

There is no accumulation of chicken manure in the coop; hence no odor and moisture problem.

 

Could you please tell me what PDZ and DE are? Thanks