Poop board substrate

[Gwhite3678]

What material are you using on your poop boards? I have been using a product called stall dry which I think is traditionally used in horse barns.
It works pretty well the poop clumps in it similar to cat litter so I can scoop it out as needed. The downside is it is very dusty and causes a lot of extra dust in the coop.
Considering replacing with shavings and just cleaning it all out weekly but that seems somewhat cumbersome to do especially in the winter.
I also considered sand but worried that will trap moisture

 

[Logar]

What material are you using on your poop boards? I have been using a product called stall dry which I think is traditionally used in horse barns.
It works pretty well the poop clumps in it similar to cat litter so I can scoop it out as needed. The downside is it is very dusty and causes a lot of extra dust in the coop.
Considering replacing with shavings and just cleaning it all out weekly but that seems somewhat cumbersome to do especially in the winter.
I also considered sand but worried that will trap moisture

Sweet PDZ seems to be the most common choice for poop boards

 

[Sally PB]

Sweet PDZ is what I use. If it's deep enough, the poops (mostly) don't freeze to the board in the winter. Even putting down a thick layer, though, a cecal poop has enough moisture to seep down through and freeze into a poop stalagmite, and it's stuck there until we get a day around freezing.

 

[RubelliteRose]

We use a mix of sand and sweet PDZ. The PDZ dries out quickly, but is expensive. Sand alone takes forever to dry out in our humid climate, but mixing it with PDZ helps to dry out the sand so they don't have to go to bed with wet poop boards.

 

[aart]

I use straight PDZ about 1/4" deep and sift the entire contents daily. The board itself is lined with a good heavy duty vinyl which poops mostly don't stick to even in my freezing temps.

 

[Sefirothe]

I also use either straight PDZ or a PDZ/sand mix. I find the PDZ to be very dusty as well. Yes, I only buy the bags that say granular.

I’m thinking about using a tiny bit of PDZ and topping with either shavings or compressed wood pellets. I have some of both. I just can’t make up my mind which to use.

 

[Andrew Macfarlane]

Sweet PDZ is what I use. If it's deep enough, the poops (mostly) don't freeze to the board in the winter. Even putting down a thick layer, though, a cecal poop has enough moisture to seep down through and freeze into a poop stalagmite, and it's stuck there until we get a day around freezing.

I use a small paint scrapper to scrape up the frozen poop.