Using Baking Soda in the run

[cherylcohen]

Quote:
What tool do you use to clean up the droppings?? My run is sand and no matter what rake I use it doesn't work. I have a sifter that I've used before but it takes forever.

 

[JimWWhite]

We do clean our coop daily and we turn in the poop in the run as well at the same time, but still 30 chickens is a lot of poop!!! And that makes for a lot of flies. It didn't occur to me that would be a problem since we didn't have the problem last year at this same time. But then last June we had only 12 hens. We didn't add the next group of 7 until after Labor Day. Now we have 30 and all they do is eat, poop, and poop some more. Oh yeah, and lay eggs... But yesterday I took everyone's advice and got a couple of 10 lb bags of Diatomaceus Earth. It's not easy to find here in the Carolinas. I finally found a small hardware store in Statesville that had a couple of bags of it for $4.95/Bag. The owner said he could order me a 50 lb bag for $40 when I needed more. It's the food grade type. Anyways, we cleaned the coop last night while the Gals were out free-ranging and I dusted the shavings with about a pound of DE afterwards. We also powdered down the run (18'x22') with about 5 lbs of it as well. Hopefully all this will help with keeking down the flies.

 

[JimWWhite]

Quote:
What tool do you use to clean up the droppings?? My run is sand and no matter what rake I use it doesn't work. I have a sifter that I've used before but it takes forever.

You were asking about a tool. We have a base of about 3 inches of sand in our run. I have a v-pointed garden hoe that I use like a tiller to turn the poop in. It takes about 10 minutes for me to turn it all up. The Gals follow me around the run when I'm doing this because I guess while I'm turning down the poop I'm turning up bugs and worms.

 

[schellie69]

How much DE do you use in the food I have 15 chickens. I am using a chemical de-wormer but would like to use DE and ACV as a preventive but not sure how much to add to the food. I am going to use the DE in the coop and pen as soon as I find it. thanks for the help.

 

[cherylcohen]

Quote:
What tool do you use to clean up the droppings?? My run is sand and no matter what rake I use it doesn't work. I have a sifter that I've used before but it takes forever.

You were asking about a tool. We have a base of about 3 inches of sand in our run. I have a v-pointed garden hoe that I use like a tiller to turn the poop in. It takes about 10 minutes for me to turn it all up. The Gals follow me around the run when I'm doing this because I guess while I'm turning down the poop I'm turning up bugs and worms.

thanks I'm thinking more of a tool that can easily (LOL) sift out the poop.

I put DE in the run to control smell and flies but just did a top dusting and worked it into the sand. Should or CAN I use a higher ratio of DE to sand. Is there a safe ratio?

 

[3LittleChickadees]

Hey,
This may sound strange, but I started using a dog poop scooper. It was $15 at Target. It's about 2 feet long and has a squeeze handle at the top- the end open and closes. I take the big stuff out daily-ish. Then mix the rest of the unsoiled litter up to dry and add more shavings as needed. It gets a big clean out when it doesn't seem to be drying out anymore.

So glad I took folks advice on DE! Works so great. I dusted each bird. Added some to the coop litter and stall floors and a little into the food. No flies and it's only been a week! yay. All the barn animals have benefited.

 

[JimWWhite]

Ok, got some D.E. and spread it around in the run and lightly tilled it in with a rake. Also changed out the pine shavings in the coop and put in a whole new bale and then added a liberal amount of D.E. Nothing! Still a lot of flies, inside and outside the coop in the run. No real difference. Waited 3 days, same results. Then Teresa read somewhere that mint repelled flies and since she had a big growth of it in the garden she cut some and spread it, not much, inside the coop and then hung some up with string from the roof of the run. Almost instant results. The flies inside the coop disappeared. The flies in the run became much less. And the Gals don't seem to be interested in it either.

 

[chicmom]

I'm going to have to try that DE....isn't it expensive though? I just had fresh sand put in both of my chicken runs and I've been wondering what to add to keep odors down. I've heard barn lime is good......

 

[Dora'smom]

Interesting about the mint. I might try that.

 

[chicmom]

Quote:
OMG I am going to try the mint too! And it smells great as well.....a bonus!