Dry Stall for soil, cat litter and in the compost bin

13 years ago

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I was down at the feed store the other day. I was kind of looking for something cheap to use as a cat litter that I might later run through the compost operation. I'm also looking for cheap bird seed for our backyard birds.

I came across a product called Dry Stall for horse stalls. The 50 lb sacks didn't mention exactly what it was composed of but described it as a volcanic rock aggregate.

The main purpose is to use in horse stalls to keep things from getting too muddy. The packaging then went on to explain that it could be added to hard clay soils to break it up and provide better water capacity. It also explained that it could be used as a cat litter and could even be mixed with clumping types of cat litter to make your clumping cat litter go farther.

Has anyone used this stuff for their soil or cat litter? I didn't get a price but maybe I can use some of this stuff.

I don't think it will harm compost but it doesn't break down. If it improves the soil structure then composting cat litter would be OK and we'd reduce our curb side trash pick up close to nil.

Thanks in advance

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Comments (5)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
13 years ago
Lots of us over on the Container Gardening Forum use similar products that are calcined (fired at high temperatures) clay or diatomaceous earth in our soils. They are highly porous and hold lots of water internally, while still being large enough to eliminate most water BETWEEN particles when used appropriately (in container substrates).

Products like this do have the potential to break up clay soils, but they would have to be a very significant fraction of the whole to achieve that end - and getting them appropriately incorporated is an issue as well. Once incorporated so they create superior aeration and drainage, you end up with the 'bathtub effect', unless you have a way to channel water away from the area in which the product has been put to use.

Al
terran
13 years ago
I haven't heard of Dry Stall, but thought I'd pass this along.

We switched our cats from clumping litter to pelletized pine. The particular brand name we have is Woody Pet, but I'm sure there are others. It was around 8 bucks for 30 pounds at the feed store, if I remember correctly.

Terran
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rott
Original Author
13 years ago
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I'll look for the pine stuff. Thanks. Can't go too far wrong at $027/lb. Can you scoop through the pellets?

I think I'll skip the dry stall for now. Seems more like a complication than a cash saver.
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terran
13 years ago
I have been using a two scoop system to remove the feces since the pellets are too large too sift out with a scoop. A regular litter scoop placed as a receiver and a large spoon to guide stool into the receiver in order not to remove any more of the pine pellets than necessary. The urine breaks the pellets down, so I move the scoop through the material to mix it at least once a day.

At first, our cats were using a dump and run method, but, now, they bury on occasion. We had a bit of difficulty during the switch over since both cats are fifteen years old and a bit set in their ways.

To make the change, we set out two boxes. One with pellets while the other had an increasing amount of pellets scattered on top of the clumping litter until we ran out of that variety, and then I switched over. Even though both boxes, now, have the pine, they prefer the box that once had the clay for some reason.

Terran
groomie2
13 years ago
I used to use to use the wood pellets for our pellet stove in the litter box.Worked great and cost $5-$6 for 40 lbs. Unfortunately I couldn't get our new cats to use it. Maybe I will try again, as the more stubborn cat passed away last year,and we have adopted another one.