my chicken run/coop smells bad!

[Nyla]

I use sand in a tube. It's 70lbs for only $3.00 at Menards and it covers alot. I've used this type of sand for a long time. It has small rocks mixed in with it. I use this sand for my chickens, ducks, turkeys, and quails. I've never had a problem using it.

 

[PD-Riverman]

What kind of sand? Fine playground, coarse, paving sand???? Where do you get it? Sand can become heavy and hard when wet, Florida summer is always wet.

Coarse, not play sand. Some Lowes, home Depots has a bulk bag---about 900 to 1000lbs for about $40 in my area. That or by the dump truck load. I get a huge dump truck load---about 20 tons delivered by a friend for $100.

 

[Howard E]

First question to ask about a wet run is if water drains to it or away from it? Ideally, it is situated on an elevated site and water drains away.

Second issue.........not difficult to understand the source of the smell.....chicken droppings mixed with mud. Dealing with the droppings, which are nigh in nitrogen is the key. A lot of folks use sand, but keep in mind, this is only small rock.....a hard mineral. What is happening is any of the droppings are simply washing through and collecting down below at the soil level. Key word being "collecting". The problem is quite literally building up on you.

So a good plan is deep litter, which more or less acts like a disposable diaper. With a high carbon, coarse deep litter, the N in the droppings start to combine with the C in the litter, which along with the water and air will start to decompose the litter. The best of these I've found is coarse grass hay.....starting about 6 inches deep and building as needed. A foot or so is not too much. With that, the birds are isolated from the mud and mess down deep below......and a slow composting process starts. Over time, this flips from being a liability to an asset, with what develops being some pretty good stuff to add to gardens, flower beds, etc.

Flat wood chips (like pine chips sold for bedding), grain straw, etc. tend to NOT be good for this, as they tend to pack and mat down, blocking out the air. Those tend to turn into wet, smelly mess too.
Coarse, waste type grass hay tends to work best. Legume hay, like alfalfa, clover, etc. are not. They contain the N and also a lot of leaf, that will mat down. Coarse grass hay....and make it deep.

 

[aart]

A mix (size, shape, type) of dry plant materials have eliminated any odors in my run.
You can use about anything as long as there's not too much of one thing.


Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

Power company tree trimmings, aged 6-12 months.

Added some dry grass clippings, very tall grass, so almost 'hay'.

 

[Molpet]

deep litter solved my problem.. and I am at the bottom of 3 hills.. the creek is on the other side

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I like the sand idea!! I have thought about lime too, just didn't know how safe it would be.

If you get sand make sure it's coarse sand. Fine sand will hold water.