# PDZ vs. BarnLime



## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

What are the pros and cons besides price?
What do you use to control odor? How often? How much?:imok:


I use straw for bedding. We keep our noses open but, 2 weeks max we clean out the shelter. I've heard shavings are good too. What kind of shaving are best?
I've also noted pellets for bedding. Wouldn't that be uncomfortable?:upset:
What do you use, straw, shavings, pellets, or a combination? 
Which do you old timers recommend?:bonk:

That's why I love it here at TGS:bighug:


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

What is your floor beneath your bedding? Dirt, gravel, cement, wood...?


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

We barely use any bedding. If we do, shavings in warm weather, and in cold weather shavings first then a layer of straw for warmth. Pine shavings only, never cedar. 

I am a horse owner, I think shavings are the easiest to clean. But they don't provide as much warmth as straw. That's why when we need warmth we use both. Shavings have the best absorption rate.

Barn lime sounds more natural and more commonly used than PDZ to me, I would go with lime.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Lime is cheap and works great. I have a dirt floor and the lime dries the floor and removes the ammonia smells. I use it on wet spots every day.

I usually put either pine shavings or pine "dust" over the lime. The dust is from a mill just down the street. It's FREE, but I can only get it in the summer on a dry day. I've been using it for years now and I've had no problem with it flying around. ie. No lung problems and no udder issues.


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## cristina-sorina (May 4, 2018)

I've used both, I like lime, especially for goats, it's cheap and it does the job. I really prefer pdz for areas in the barn that my dog my have marked as his territory, I think really gets that smell out a lot better than the lime. Also, it's much easier to carry a bag of pdz than a bag of lime out of TSC, I about fell over when I picked up what I 'thought' was a small bag lol. So i use both, and I like both for different reasons.


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## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

The "floor" under my bedding is the bottom of the doghouse that I shelter them in. Otherwise the are in a (6 by 15ft) chain linked dog pen. The grass is long gone and occasionally I put straw down on the ground over droppings and to keep the ground from being muddy. It seems shavings might be best for the ground too.

All of you have been very helpful and once again, I've learned a lot.

Pine shavings are best for bedding and the ground in the summer months. A combo for the winter months and lime is best for odor.

Thanks everyone!


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Duchesse said:


> The "floor" under my bedding is the bottom of the doghouse that I shelter them in. Otherwise the are in a (6 by 15ft) chain linked dog pen. The grass is long gone and occasionally I put straw down on the ground over droppings and to keep the ground from being muddy. It seems shavings might be best for the ground too.
> 
> All of you have been very helpful and once again, I've learned a lot.
> 
> ...


Somone on here told me that cedar shavings beneath the pine shavings will keep the fire ants out. I know ya'll have a lot of them, too.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

Dwarf Dad said:


> Somone on here told me that cedar shavings beneath the pine shavings will keep the fire ants out. I know ya'll have a lot of them, too.


I've heard never to use cedar because it can cause respiratory issues.


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

NigerianDwarfOwner707 said:


> I've heard never to use cedar because it can cause respiratory issues.


I have seen that, too. I was told to put a thin layer of cedar underneath a couple of inches of pine. I have not tried it yet. No fire ants in there yet.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

PDZ would be my choice, but that's coming from my days of working on a horse farm years ago - neutralized the odors really well. I use the barn lime from TSC as it's more affordable and we go through so much of it. 

We use stall mats in the barn and the pros are - you aren't digging the dirt out when cleaning stalls. The cons - they can get really smelly. 

I'd think if you only have a small area and only a few goats to bed down, you could probably use the pelleted bedding and put some shavings over the top. When weather is bad/cold you could do the pelleted bedding underneath and straw on top.


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## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

:wow: Thanks everyone!:bighug:This is :neat: . It's been so long since I had my goats I forgot the basics.:bonk:

I went to TSC and the were out of lime. It may be in by Tues. In the interim I've put down pine shavings and sprinkled some baking soda on the ground. This helped a lot. What do you think? I figured if it helped with the odor of my baby brother's feet it could kill the odor of the goats.:heehee:


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Duchesse said:


> :wow: Thanks everyone!:bighug:This is :neat: . It's been so long since I had my goats I forgot the basics.:bonk:
> 
> I went to TSC and the were out of lime. It may be in by Tues. In the interim I've put down pine shavings and sprinkled some baking soda on the ground. This helped a lot. What do you think? I figured if it helped with the odor of my baby brother's feet it could kill the odor of the goats.:heehee:


Thinking out side the box er, in the arm and hammer box. If it works, no problem!


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## St. Alban's Farm (Apr 22, 2019)

Sounds like it might work at least in the short term. I tried the PDZ but my wife thought it smelt like a Port-a-john and couldn't stand it. I know other people like the way it smells but on our farm it was a no go, so I switched over to the barn lime and that has seemed to work just fine without the strong smell that PDZ comes with.


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## NigerianNewbie (Jun 6, 2018)

Thank you for the tip about the strong smell of the PDZ. Just from your description, I know the aroma would be a put off for me. I haven't used either yet, but will be putting barn lime down next winter.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

NigerianNewbie said:


> Thank you for the tip about the strong smell of the PDZ. Just from your description, I know the aroma would be a put off for me. I haven't used either yet, but will be putting barn lime down next winter.


To me pdz doesnt really have much smell at all. And my sniffer is sensitive.


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## NigerianNewbie (Jun 6, 2018)

:up: Thank you, maybe my next trip to a farm supply I should try to sniff through the bag. Even use unscented cat litter for my feline Hope, guilty of sensitive sniffer as well. 

When the stalls were emptied for spring, the planks of their stalls each had a wet spot. (Goat shed has a raised plank floor) Wasn't much of a pee smell though. I used a layer of pine shavings and then a layer of straw. The stalls were cleaned out 3 times during the winter. Tried the add to the bedding build up and after the second layer was used up, it would smell a little and the stall got stripped and left naked to dry some during the day before adding new bedding that evening.

I plan to put something down next winter, just not sure what I should be getting that would help the best considering the circumstances.


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## TexasGoatMan (Jul 4, 2015)

We have concrete flooring in the barn. The smell is strong and the poop will stick to the concrete when stepped on. I have not used lime but we scoop the poop into a wheel barrow daily and dump it out into the woods. IN the winter we use cheap hay for bedding. But think God it is warm and I can now use the hose and just wash the flooring. The barn floor is on a slope so the water runs off the concrete with no issues. However the ground at the edge of the concrete is a mess to say the least. But we get lots of rain and it washes a lot of the washed off poop/pee away and into the pastures and drainage creek down stream. Lime sounds like it may work on the dirt around the barn.


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## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

After cleaning the floor to the dirt very well I put down Barn Lime and then pine shavings. During the winter I throw straw over the pine shavings for their to snuggle up into. The lime is fantastic for drying up the floor and ammonia. The shavings are great for after with poop and pee.


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

Dwarf Dad said:


> I have seen that, too. I was told to put a thin layer of cedar underneath a couple of inches of pine. I have not tried it yet. No fire ants in there yet.


I've been using cedar to keep fire ants and flys at bay. I use 1 bag of cedar to 3 bags of pine shavings and never had respiratory issues. I could see it happening if you only used cedar but this has worked great for the last couple of years.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

TexasGoatMan said:


> We have concrete flooring in the barn. The smell is strong and the poop will stick to the concrete when stepped on. I have not used lime but we scoop the poop into a wheel barrow daily and dump it out into the woods. IN the winter we use cheap hay for bedding. But think God it is warm and I can now use the hose and just wash the flooring. The barn floor is on a slope so the water runs off the concrete with no issues. However the ground at the edge of the concrete is a mess to say the least. But we get lots of rain and it washes a lot of the washed off poop/pee away and into the pastures and drainage creek down stream. Lime sounds like it may work on the dirt around the barn.


I try my best to keep poop away from pastures, the sound of a wet poop slurry rushing through seems like a play day for worms!


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## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

:update:

My TSC is full of . To date no barn lime has come in and they can't say when. In the meanwhile pine shavings have been doing the job fine. PDZ is $9. Barn lime is $3. I'm going to wait. :waiting:


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Duchesse said:


> :update:
> 
> My TSC is full of . To date no barn lime has come in and they can't say when. In the meanwhile pine shavings have been doing the job fine. PDZ is $9. Barn lime is $3. I'm going to wait. :waiting:


Since this convo started i tried the lime in my stalls. I clean out every day the mess that i can now that we got the deep litter out for warm weather. I usually use pdz but was out so thought ok why not try the lime and see the difference for us. I have turkeys, goats.. grown and kids and a four month old calf up the hill where my trial was. So here goes...

First off... the lime got on my skin. I do have sensitive skin and at times eczema. But it got on the inside of my top arm. It burned til i washed it off. My eczema is mostly hands, feet and occasionally face... so this was not a "hot spot for me". It did burn my hands but they were irritated at the time so i did not take my hands into account here. Yuck. So if it burns my skin i do not want my goats layin on the ground that has it on it even though we put shavings over it. I also dont want it in their hooves. I have not been able to find my pdz scooper and used my hands in it and it did not burn my skin. Nope nope nope.

Second.... ammonia smell. Omg rank! Like i said i do clean daily the berries and wet spots. With pdz i sprinkle a bit on spots it if it is super wet and i have no ammonia smell. Otherwise when i clean all shavings out every week to two weeks dependin on how wet and muddy it has been i sprinkle pdz and am usually good within thirty minutes of any smell there was. There is usually not a yucky "dirty barn" smell unless it is crazy humid and rainy for days on end...the vet even commented on how it didnt smell like we had animals livin in the barn there and i am not super nutty on spotless clean. I just want it "picked up" and no stink. Did the same with the lime and it still smelled like ammonia when the fresh shavings were tossed round with my boot a few hours later. No go for me. I do not want ammonia smell anywhere for me or the animals to breathe in. Turkey poop does not have an ammonia smell but it stinks like nobodies business. I still smelled turk poop two hours later where there was none to be had and my poop buggy had been dumped too. So i dunno what that was all about. :/

Third..... the lime kinda looked and felt like it made a chalky layer atop the ground and i just felt like the ground could not breathe to dry good. I did put a thin layer all over the floor but it was not thick.

Fourth.... the dust. It was horrid when i sprinkled the lime where with the pdz it is a small poof and it settles pretty quickly. When i do clean out clean outs i do poop duty first so i can keep everyone out of the stalls for the poof to settle before i am done doin other chores up there. With the lime it took FOREVER for it to settle. I went back up an hour and two hours later. Each time i could see it had settled more and more but still i could see a haze and with pdz it is done in five minutes or less. With the lime it looked like a super light dusting of snow on every available surface and pdz does not do that for me. Even on a windy day... the wind has to be like tornado storm howlin for it to really be noticed in the stalls even with the doors open. You can feel airflow at human shoulder level and above but not below kinda thing.

So. For us i won't use lime in our animal spaces again. It may work and do well for some but for me it is a def no go.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Yes, Barn lime is not for total odor control.


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