O the SMELL!

[Sc00ter4900]

I use lime also. Can't get DE around here. I supose I could but I'm too cheap tp spend that lind of money. LOL Lime for a 50 pound bag is 3 or 4 dollars. Thats in my area not sure about yours. Most grain places carrie it . Hope that helps . Scotty

 

[CANDLE98]

When ever I could i scraped as much as I could out of the coop and then added more shavings to the top. This last weekend it finally thawed out enough for us to get all the way down to the floor and we got it all out! The floor was soaked! I covered the floor in DE and then layered on the pine chips and it smells SO much better! I was so bad it was stinging my eyes! poor chickens!

 

[chicks4kids]

Quote:
Where do you get that. Is it sold as ag lime or under a brand name?

I got mine at Lowe's. It's made by Pennington. In the lawn and garden section in a blue bag that says Pennington Lawn & Garden Fast Acting Lime.

 

[Manok-Tao]

Quote:
Where do you get that. Is it sold as ag lime or under a brand name?

I got mine at Lowe's. It's made by Pennington. In the lawn and garden section in a blue bag that says Pennington Lawn & Garden Fast Acting Lime.

I use that same lime on my lawns every fall...is there no danger in the birds eating it?

 

[Mountain Sunshine]

ok...what does the lime do? Does it work the same way that DE does?

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
I cleaned mine out,,its just going to be worse next thaw.

 

[chicks4kids]

The lime neutralizes the ammonia smell and other odors in the coop. DE will kill bugs, lice, etc. The Ag Lime is not caustic like hydrated lime. It is fine enough to broadcast out and not worry about your birds pecking it up. When you get it, it's tiny little gray looking granules. I put some in my coop this morning, a cool whip size container full (my coop is 7x12) so it doesn't take much. I also sprinkle DE in the coop and nest boxes as well.

 

[Manok-Tao]

Ah, so the lime talked about here is NOT the dolcimetric (sp) pelletized lime sold at Lowes for lawns; it IS the powdered lime (like flour) sold at Lowes for soil prep/conditioning.

The pellets are made to brodcast on a lawn for a slow release into the top layer of soil (grass roots) The fine powdered lime is made to till into the soil to prep/condition it for specific soil Ph.

Lime for odor
DE for Parsites....and odor?

 

[chicks4kids]

Dolomitic lime is agricultural lime. Hydrated is caustic. Here's what I use...

 

[sparkles2307]

Thanks for all the tips! I kind of thought I was using the Deep Litter Method... we started them out with a good thick layer of straw this fall and keep adding a straw bale once every 2 weeks. They do a good job of fluffing it up themselves cause our straw bales are 1/4 hay so they pick thru that. But we're like a foot deep in there now from all the bales I have added and the odor is still terrible if it ever gets up close to 32 degrees. I will try lime, I didnt know if that was safe or not.