My chicken coop stinks

I prefer pine shavings to hay or straw.  Also, Sweet PDZ really does help keep the smell down.

First thing in the morning I clean up all of the poo in the coop from the nite before.  I clean the run a couple of times a day.  The run has a lot of sand mixed in and the coop is pine shavings.  I never have a smell problem.  I'm always asking my wife (with the sensitive nose) if she smells anything to let me know.  I also sprinkle DE both in the coop (incl. nest boxes) and the run.

In my coop, I use wood shavings from the feed store ($8 huge bales ) and stall dry 40#bag ($13).  Stall dry is DE & clay.  Once a week I add a layer of shavings and a cup or two of stall dry and lightly rake.  I have not cleaned my coop since March and am just at the end of my bale of shavings.  It does not smell!

For the run we have an elevated coop and they spend a lot of time under the coop, so I added a few inches of sand.  The rest of the run in just bare ground.  So far not too bad.

Hey Granola,

I read your post, and I thought of one of my coops. We've been getting alot of rain here, and my big one is getting pretty bad. And I just remembered something..... there used to be a lot of outhouses in this part of the world. Also known as the "sh$t house"  LOL. They kept a bucket of ground lime inside in a bucket, when you got done with your paper work, take a small cup of lime, dump 'er in the hole.  I raise sheep, and read in a book, that the lime, since alkaline, will nutralize the acid in the manure and urine. Never tried it, but a bag of lime at the farm store is fairly reasonable. I think I'll try it.


Jim 

I would make sure that the lime isn't harmful to the chickens.  It would help to hold down odors. Keep us posted please.

there are two kinds of lime bought at the lumber yard

one is hydrated slake lime
alwys use a mask when handling DE and or Hydrated Lime

I always put it on the manure every day under my rabbit hutxhes
and on the bare floor in the chicken house then added the pine shavings
also put it on the manure under the roost every day
keeps odor down and flies gone

also you can buy agricultural limestone and spread it under the roost and it is a calcium limestone so if the chickens eat it it will not hurt them just add calcium to the diet

any questions email me

Thanks Glenda.... you so smart.

Is your bedding wet or damp?  If it is that's the problem.  Try to dry it out and the really bad odor will go away.