SWEET PDZ

[City Farmer Jim]

Good morning all, I have a question for the great minds of BYC..
PDZ love it, hate it, and why. We are up to our maximum of 10 birds in the coop at night, now that we have introduced the new little girls..the odor factor has gone UP.

 

[aart]

the odor factor has gone UP.

We deep litter and thus far no older I can detect but I don't sleep there ....YET lol.

Which is it....more odor or not?
Just wait until they start laying and the poops triple+ in size.

I love a thin layer (<1/4") of granulated PDZ on the poop boards,
it's siftable, all of it gets sifted daily. Add a bit as needed.
That helps a lot.
Dry shavings on the floor also helps with odor.
When I walk into coop in the morning to feed and clean,
no odor unless someone has just dropped a fresh cecal poop.
High heat and humidity changes that, everything stinks more when damp.

 

[Nola985]

Just google Zeolite and/or Clinoptilolite which is the ingredient(s) of Sweet PDZ and Sweet Coop. It can be found as is product but is also marketed as numerous other brands of horse stall refresher, cat litter, etc.Just be sure it is the mineral and doesn’t have additives like fragrances and clays that could harm your chickens.

 

[DobieLover]

Good morning all, I have a question for the great minds of BYC..
PDZ love it, hate it, and why. We are up to our maximum of 10 birds in the coop at night, now that we have introduced the new little girls..the odor factor has gone UP.

Love it. But only the granular version. Not the powder.
Do you have poop boards in your coop? What size is your coop in relation to the number of birds you have?
How large is your run? Does it have a solid roof on it and is it predator-proof?

 

[Mamatomany123]

I just searched for PDZ and it is more expensive than I expected. A 10lb bag is $65! How far would that go?

Oh no, no, no. A 25lb bag is $10. And that doesnt go very far in my opinion. Have you considered coffee grinds? We just recently started using it and it works the same way and smells much nicer (as long as you enjoy the smell of coffee of course.)

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

I've tried PDZ and wasn't impressed with the product for the price - also Amazon because it's not carried locally. Honestly, go simple. Craft a removable poop board w/ high sides, fill with dry pine shavings and clean as necessary and put the waste into the compost pile. My flock is small - six birds - I don't have to clean as frequently.

 

[Mamatomany123]

I am assuming they are used coffee grinds? I am not a fan of coffee or the smell of old grinds. My husband and 2 of my kids like it. Hmmmm. Maybe that's a good excuse to get them to clean out the coop!

Yes, we dry ours out after we use them. Just set them out in the sun in a thin layer and theyll dry quickly.

 

[Chickstarrs]

Ohhh...did not know that.
Did you want to use PDZ on the poop boards?

Yes, it sounds like that was a good place to use them from what I have read in other posts.

 

[Punkybrewster]

I sprinkle a moderate amount of granular PDZ on the floor of the coop. Shavings on top of that. Once a week i stir it all up. I have no odor in my coop.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

I'm at the maximum on birds per square foot if you use 3 square feet per bird the coop is 4'x8' with 2 external nesting box areas of 14"x 38"..I have use PDZ in the brooder only..but with 10 in the coop at night and with the daily 95 degree plus heat wondering it's a needed measure. We deep litter and thus far no older I can detect but I don't sleep there ....YET lol.