Somebody tell me if my coop will kill my chickens!

[cukooformarans]

DH and I re-did our chicken coop today with sand and DE. The coop is about 8 x 12. Per some suggestions on this site, we used Sweet PDZ, DE and sand. I didn't know how much to put, so we did 1/2 bag Sweet PDZ, 1 ton of sand and 25 lbs of DE. It was a food grade DE, but I noticed when I got home it had a really small % of bentonite (clay). The thing is, the coop was super ultra crazy dusty afterwords. We tried to rake the DE into the sand to help and DH even misted it with the hose to help it settle. (Yes I know that this counteracts the supposed benefits but he didn't wet it too much and it did help to settle the dust.) It still smells strong in there, but the dust is a lot better. The chickens and ducks went in, but I left the door open just for this night to help with ventilation. We just finished 45 minutes ago and I had to make dinner still, so no roosting poles are up yet and they are on the floor. Do I need to go move them out of the pen, or should they be ok?????

Should've got those roosting poles up!!!!!!!

 

[CatDaddyAlbert]

Really I would just leave them alone. As long as they are safe from predators it will hurt nothing to just leave them be. I know at this time of years my birds like to sleep outside. The know the pen is predator proof.

 

[Elite Silkies]

I would just watch them and make sure they do not start sneezing due to the extra dust. You can wet the ground and that will help lower the dust that they are breathing in. They will be fine without roost for a couple of days.

 

[gryeyes]

The only problem with wetting the run down to combat dust is that food grade DE is not effective if it has gotten wet. :-/

 

[KDK1]

Quote:
It will be fine after it dries out. They will eventually scratch it into the ground/sand some.

 

[cukooformarans]

Thanks for the replies, y'all! I have been panicking. I guess I will just see in the morning. DH says he can get roosts up Thursday if not tomorrow...