Safe Ice Melt/Pavement Deicer?

[yakx]

I've been trying to figure out how to keep my walkway and driveway ice-free this winter in a way that's safe for my chickens. However, I've been struggling to find much definitive information on it. My first thought was pet-friendly ice-melt, but I read that it's still not safe if they ingest too much of it. Does anyone have experience with this? I was thinking of using a combination of all-purpose sand (because I've read that it should at least give some traction) and Safe Paw Ice Melt. My coop is behind my house, but I let the chickens free roam for 30 minutes a day, and they often wander onto the pavement. There wouldn't be any directly around the coop or in their run. Thanks in advance.

 

[thecatumbrella]

That's a really great question. I personally would use sand. Ice melt is great for small driveways with no pets, but sand is king for getting traction when my (longer) driveway inevitably ices over.

I've also used some kind of crushed lava rock on the stairs, which feels more benign than that "pet-safe" blue/green stuff, but it's big bucks to use over large areas.

 

[BarnyardProphet]

I've been trying to figure out how to keep my walkway and driveway ice-free this winter in a way that's safe for my chickens. However, I've been struggling to find much definitive information on it. My first thought was pet-friendly ice-melt, but I read that it's still not safe if they ingest too much of it. Does anyone have experience with this? I was thinking of using a combination of all-purpose sand (because I've read that it should at least give some traction) and Safe Paw Ice Melt. My coop is behind my house, but I let the chickens free roam for 30 minutes a day, and they often wander onto the pavement. There wouldn't be any directly around the coop or in their run. Thanks in advance.

I've been wondering the same for my walkway and I'll comment to follow this thread. As far as the driveway, mine is uphill and I've always successfully used Tube sand (the cheaper one, not the washed sand I put in my run). Because of the sand comment, I did want to mention that traction sand is actually good for the yard if you have an established lawn, you just blow it off the drive in the spring.

 

[Sally PB]

Sand, ashes, sawdust. We use all three for our driveway. No chickens on the driveway, but we walk our dog out there every day.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Ashes work great if you can avoid tracking the stuff into the house. Sawdust from machines like table saws or chop saws, small chips, not big flakes, work good too for traction. Just a light layer though.