About the ChickenDust™ Pumice
The formation of pumice begins deep in the fiery heart of an emergent volcano, a combination of relentless pressure and rock-melting heat infuses silica-rich rhyolitic magma with water. Swollen magma forces its way relentlessly to the surface—when that viscous, rock-shattering force breaks free, it manifests in an explosive, violent eruption, heaving countless cubic tons of water-infused magma into the atmosphere. Trapped water flashes to steam, foaming the sticky molten rock, which rapidly cools and falls to earth as pumice.
The pumice deposit from which ChickenDust™ is derived is located in southeast Idaho, on the shoreline of an ancient lake known as Lake Bonneville. This vast freshwater lake once covered much of North America’s Great Basin region (most of Utah and parts of Idaho and Nevada). The Great Salt Lake is all that remains of Lake Bonneville. The volcano that produced the pumice is about a mile to the north of the mine. The volcanic ash (pumice) fell onto the lake, where it was washed and stratified via centuries of wave action. This process cleaned the pumice of the undesirable heavy minerals that are (often) found in other pumice deposits.
From this remarkable pumice deposit comes ChickenDust™, a fine pumice bathing sand blended for poultry and game birds.
Examine pumice under magnification and what you’ll see is best described as a foamed stone. That frothy matrix of tiny pockets and grabbing edges are ideal for capturing dirt and absorbing oils from fur, feathers and skin. It is also an effective mechanical insecticide for mitigating parasites.
Pumice is fascinatingly versatile, used widely in industry for a variety of processes and products—in personal care exfoliating products, polishing compounds, pencil erasers. It’s a functional filler for paints and coatings and a highly-effective concrete pozzolan. Pumice is used as a filtration media for water, oil, and juices. It’s a great native soil and composting amendment. And, of course, has valuable application in pet and livestock care.
About Hess Pumice
ChickenDust™ is a product of Hess Pumice. While pumice is abundant and found in many parts of the world, not all pumice is created equal. For the reasons touched on above, the Hess pumice deposit is of superior quality and purity, yielding a pumice with a wide range of industrial process and commercial product applications.
In continual operation since 1958, Hess Pumice operates production facilities equipped with the most current refining technology and machinery. The Hess pumice deposit is a large, stable source of supply, and Hess Pumice Products is known for both its exclusive focus on producing precisely controlled pumice grades and its logistical expertise—making it possible to ship refined pumice anywhere on the planet. These factors have made Hess Pumice the world’s leading supplier of highly refined pumice products.