Sweet PDZ for brooder bedding????

[gnvawms]

I'm setting up a brooder in a plastic tub for 6 chicks. My question is.......can I use Sweet PDZ ONLY for the bedding of my brooder? It would be nice to be able to sift out to poop like you would a cat's litter box. I've read on here where several people mix sweet PDZ with sand for bedding and some mix it with pine shavings. I just need to know if I could use it by itself???? Thanks in advance

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I tried it by itself on the floors of my shed coops in a thick layer. Ugh.

The poo bits that were too small to lift out with the kitty litter scoop ended up staying there and made the whole place reek. I went to sand (DRY play sand in bags).

Now if you use a very thin layer of PDZ (which I did for several years), scraping daily, it works fine. I only had bad results with a deep layer of it.

I LOVE sand. You should try it out! My bill went from $40 a month for two shed coops (thin layer, scraping daily) with sweet PDZ to $10 a month for two sand bags.

 

[gnvawms]

Thanks so much for your reply!!! I'm glad to know that somebody else out there has thought about trying this! I love learning from other people's mistakes. hehe
I think I'm going to try the sand.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thanks so much for your reply!!! I'm glad to know that somebody else out there has thought about trying this! I love learning from other people's mistakes. hehe
I think I'm going to try the sand.

Too, you can always try a smallish area with a thick layer of PDZ to see if you like it. It is very good stuff and works great for odors...don't want to discourage anyone from using it. But my experiment was disasterous because I filled TWO shed bottoms with it, all in all, 8 bags of it. It was so expensive that I waited until it naturally went away from sifting/coating poo...but the smell during that time wasn't to my liking. It was also wet rainy weather with leaks into the shed so you might have different results if your area is drier.

 

[TLWR]

I went to pick some up today and they were out. Will just sand in the brooder work or will they eat that.
And does it need to be a certain kind of sand. I think there is a bag of play sand in the garage or we have a bunch of sand that was delivered when we built the garage and had it bricked, so it might be a courser brick sand.


i'm getting ready to set up brooder 2 to move the chicks into since they are currently on a towel.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I went to pick some up today and they were out. Will just sand in the brooder work or will they eat that.
And does it need to be a certain kind of sand. I think there is a bag of play sand in the garage or we have a bunch of sand that was delivered when we built the garage and had it bricked, so it might be a courser brick sand.


i'm getting ready to set up brooder 2 to move the chicks into since they are currently on a towel.

Sand is very good chick grit for tiny chicks. I do start my chicks on sand now and it works well. For the first day or three, I put down paper towels with food sprinkled over it to make sure they know what their feed is. If they fill up on the sand instead of the food that wouldn't be good. My chicks do great with this setup.

You can use different kinds of sand- just be aware that the dust from sand can contain silica. The play sand I *believe* is washed to avoid so much silica dust (bad for your lungs). Larger bits of gravel will be fine and will serve as grit as they grow larger.

 

[TLWR]

Thanks much
Bin 2 is washed and drying in the sun, now to go add some sand from the garage or back yard and move the buggers and hose down the nasty towel before throwing it in the wash.

 

[dBirdMon]

I’ve found that Sweet PDZ does a way better job of removing the ammonia odor than sand. I also know peeps (pun intended) that have used a thick layer of the pdz granules with success but I think that might not be necessary or the most efficient way to use it. I found that simply putting down a reasonable covering of it will more than do the job removing the strong ammonia odor and soaking up the urine + it’s been hassle free for me using it this way. I've used the powder pdz too but mostly use the granules that look like sand. Also what’s neat about this stuff is its all natural and very safe to use and compost (You can’t compost sand and my kiddos won’t let me recycle it in their sandbox ;-o).