Sand for poop board: what type?

[SueT]

And along that note, @SueT, where do you source your PDZ?

They sell 'Horse Fresh' at a farm store here, product is made by Standlee.

We can also buy 'Sweet PDZ' at Tractor Supply, it costs more.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

I use PDZ on my poop boards. Also buying the big bag (horse stall size). It's been great. Keeps odors to a minimum. Easy to clean. Bought a mesh scoop at pet store. You can find them in the reptile section.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some people love sand, some people hate it. We all have different conditions and do things differently. What works well for some people is horrible for others. That's one of the challenges in keeping chickens, finding out what works for you.

I don't use anything on my droppings board, just painted the top and use a broken-handled garden hoe to scrape it off when I need to. How often I need to depend on how humid the weather is and how many chickens I have at the time. If it ever starts to stink you waited too long. Sometimes I scrape mine weekly, sometimes I can go a month. Depend on my conditions.

You might chat with your agricultural ministry if they have an area office to see if they can help you find something suitable. Or check at a riding stable and see what they use for their horses. Don't be afraid to try something and see how it works. Trial and error is a strong learning tool.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

By 'washed' sand do you mean sterilized sand, or is it literally just sand that was passed through some water

Essentially yes, it's just rinsed to get out the extra dust. The sand I ended up with was probably granite sourced from a quarry at a local river. It is not horse related at all that is the PDZ,

Regarding the rice hulls.. I should elaborate now that I've thought more about it... I love them in brooders because they are very hydrophobic... meaning they don't absorb liquid well... but the are so light.. they quickly grab any poo and cover it, sinking away from the chick surface and keeping feet and such clean and dry. Liquid, in large amount like when raising ducklings, run right through. They do eventually start to absorb the liquid if left long enough... but things mold faster than that here. I do kinda like using a combo with a bottom layer of shavings and a top layer of hulls.

I also like the rice hulls a lot in my prefab coops with the bottom pan that is so small it won't pull out using shavings or hay or anything else that clumps together at all.

@aart, yes it was very sift-able!

I have resorted to using NOTHING on my droppings board except when I'm having company I add a little PDZ, cause I already bought it for my goat shed... where even though you change hay the ground underneath would get WOW. I could not believe the huge difference it made for them. Anyways, I no longer keep goats but it was a huge bag (PDZ)... 50# for around $18, and it's such a fine powder that a little goes a long way. So now I toss it on the board to pretty it up a little. Wish they were linoleum, but next time!

 

[aart]

@aart, yes it was very sift-able!

I don't think it would go thru my sifter....but the PDZ does.

 

[Kris5902]

Honestly I’d never heard of the PDZ stuff before... but there is a “coop Fresh” powder stuff available at my local feed store. It’s mostly DE and didn’t work out for me. I was putting it in the dust bath for the farm coop (as directed), but the girls didn’t know what to do with it and once it was “elevated” (thanks to a chicken suicide whilst mouse hunting under it) the dust bath was just getting used as a nighttime roosting spot. The combo of sand and powder and dirt would’ve cleaned up pretty easy, had anyone bothered to scoop it. Coop is now empty and everyone is outside due to mites... I will probably try sand once I get some decent roosts into my barn for the winter... looking forward to trying it because right now I’m just using feed bags under the temporary ones, which gets gross really quickly!

 

[Eelantha]

@aart - Indeed, alot of things available in the US are not in Canada, and when they are it's far from cheap. It's.... a frustrating search, I admit.

@SueT - Does Tractor Supply sell/ship to Canada?

@Ridgerunner - Horse stables mostly use hay for the stalls here in Quebec. I've seen two or three stables that use some sort of pine shavings, but that's it. Chicken-wise, chicken owners prefer either hay or pine shavings for bedding. Poop boards are rare in chicken sheds, though. That's why I'd like to try one, see how it works for my own coop ^^ Sand would be nice for easy scooping, but if I can't find that or rice hulls, then I'll simply scrape off the poop. PDZ would have been a great bonus for scent control, but I'm not sure if it's within shipping reach. If I can't find a nearby shipper, I'll go without.

@EggSighted4Life - Thank you for the washed sand clarification! Your rice hull uses are interesting, I'll keep them in mind for my next chick hatching season. My 2019 chicks all benefited from pipi pads at first, and when I saw how quickly that got messy, I stapled 1/2 inch chicken wire on a half-inch thick wood stick cadre (with the edges gray-taped to avoid toe pricks) and put that on the pipi pad to keep the chicks clean and dry 24hr/7. The poop fell through the mesh and dried on the pipi pad untrampled. The cadre worked super well, so I might combine it with rice hulls next year unless one of my pullets decides to be a mother next spring.

@Kris5902 - Likewise, I'd never heard of PDZ before I tried finding out what kind of sand to use for poop boards. Hopefully this post has helped you find the information you needed to try it out ^^

Speaking of which, guys, is there a way to safely dispose of the board poop without attracting predators? I'm asking this because yesterday evening I saw a fox and a racoon less than 15 mins apart right outside the window of the chicken shed (I was inside the coop tending to the flock when one of the perched cockerels raised the alarm) and now I'm very nervous. I've already lost one hen to a hawk last year, the last thing I want is a reynard or a racoon (or both) making a snack of my whole flock because I've not correctly disposed of the poop

 

[EggSighted4Life]

, is there a way to safely dispose of the board poop without attracting predators? I'm asking this because yesterday evening I saw a fox and a racoon less than 15 mins apart right outside the window of the chicken shed

I have those predators regardless of how poop or anything else is disposed of... on of the great joys of living around less people!

Making sure your coop is secure is the best predator evasion you can do.

Sometimes I simply compost my droppings out by the garden. Other times... especially when I have a heavy stock load... I shovel droppings into the old feed bags, roll them tight to keep any fly larva inside, and put it in my trash can to go to the dump. We drink our ground water, and while it's at least 25 feet down.. I always try to be cautious of anything that might effect my water quality.

Only run in I had was when ducks were in a temporary enclosure... one was scalped by a raccoon during the night, but lived to make my lesson not as rough as it could have been. 1/2 inch hardware cloth on all openings and locking or multiple latches. If a 3 year old can open it, so can a raccoon.

Raccoons will come after the feed as well. I think they're attracted to dropped feed and the animals... not the animal waste.