Flooring treatment.

Bugsy

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Quick question.

What do you users of Aubiose or similar use to treat the flooring against bugs and stuff. My girls are constantly rummaging around and pecking in it so it needs to be obviously safe stuff to use.

Thanks
 
Generally speaking nothing. Every six months or so after I have wormed the birds I use Stalosan F powder and liberally dust the run with it, it kills worm eggs, fly eggs and larvae as well as occyst eggs and also lowers odour. Of course there is nothing to stop you using it on a more regular basis. In the coop I paint a layer of diatom slurry on the base and then sprinkle some of the powder into the aubiouse and it kills red mite.
 
The best way to keep the floor litter clean is to poo pick daily, before the birds scratch the droppings into the litter. Those which get missed are rapidly dehydrated by the super-absorbent Aubiose, and don't seem to pose problems. I top up the Aubiose as and when it becomes thin, and once a year I clear it all out and use it as a weedproofing fertiliser and soil conditioning mulch on the Autumn flower beds. If you have either a membrane underneath, or a solid floor, the hens can't scratch up earth or earthworms, so no risk of transmission from there, and separation from the earth helps to keep the litter clean. It's very safe stuff, just inert shredded hemp, so good for them to dig around in. I've never used Stalosan though I'm sure it's harmless and effective. I just keep the run reasonably clean and worm the birds twice a year, and they all seem to stay healthy and live long and productive lives.
 
Thanks for that guys.

The Aubiose is indeed fantastic stuff. I did a full rake-over last weekend and the poo is easy to extract and neatly packaged in the process.

I use dust-free shavings in the coop and poo-pick that daily. I do use an anti-bug powder in the nest boxes, on the perch ends and on the floor of the coop.
 

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