Odor control in sand equipped run?

sunflour said:

Honestly I have never had and odor in the run and they have been on it for nearly 3 years without removing the original sand, but adding new sand and mixing it in when needed.

But I do rake out feathers, big poops - sift areas occasionally.

And add PDZ to any areas that get wet - dried poo is not odoriferous, but wet poop is awful.


Is you run covered? Does it get wet?

Mine is covered with a roof, but we do see some moisture in the perimeters after heavy rains but not a problem thus far.

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sunflour said:

I tried composting poop in a garbage can with drilled holes, it wasn't doing a lot so I added water and closed the lid. OMG my whole yard smelled like a sewage spill in just a few days.

Maybe sand is not the best solution in your situation. My coop/run is a little higher than the surrounding area and has a fair over hanging roof on all sides, even with severe rain we see only splats of rain inside. With dry sand, the poop dries and can be sifted out periodically.

You may consider adding dirt or other littler, move the flock out while you work and till it in?

But 2 inches of poop would be an awful job to deal with, good luck.

And get a mask or cloth to cover your nose and place a few drops of oil of clove on that - it will make the task a lot easier.

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smcgill said:

I have no problem with the smell , I work in a waste water treatment plant!
Removing the wet poop was like shoveling wet heavy slushy snow, thank God snow doesn't smell like that!

What I'm looking for is what to mix in with the sand to help remove the lingering smell , PDZ , Barn Lime, Vinegar ?

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TalkALittle said:

After reading subsequent posts, the problem isn't the sand, it's the frequency (or infrequency ) of cleaning. I think that most who have sand rake out the poop regularly. The smaller the run, the more frequently the cleaning.

If you are a habitual "slacker" you might want to give the deep litter method some consideration. As I stated in the thread I linked to, I've not scooped a poop from my run since spring and no odor. When the birds poop, it is almost immediately covered by their scratching. No work at all. Once established, DL is the perfect solution for us "slackers".

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marieff said:

I think that the key is to keep up on the cleaning on a weekly basis, and you'll find you won't have problems with smell

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