Ammonia smell in coop??????

[basicliving]

Chickens do pee, sort of. The white stuff on chicken poo is the urine. They do not pee a liquid urine like people or most other animals.

You say the smell seems to be only in one place - is that place wet? If so, I agree you need to check for leaks in the roof, or perhaps their waterer is leaking there? If it's not wet and the smell is concentrated where there is heavy poop, I would try to remove as much poop as possible daily - and throw some fresh shavings over that area afterwards.

 

[tink]

The wet may also be coming from your waterer. It may not be leaking....but I know my girls bump into ours and sometimes drain the whole thing. I think smells are just part of chickens and not a conern.... just a part. I clean my coop out completely about every 4-6 months depending on the time of year and weather.
Just thought....with the rain, the cirt on top may not be wet but maybe underneath! Which would slow the dryig out down a little.
Tink

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
Thats one reason I never put water or feed in coops .... they go in coops only to lay during the day and roost at bedtime ... they eat and drink out in the runs .....

Plenty of ventilation is needed year round , but no drafts .... DE should help , unless water is being spilled inside .....

 

[LynneP]

Stable Boy is also an excellent product for this. You probably have a damp spot and if it happens again this product will continue to work when damp. Safe for horses, goats, chickens, cattle- all livestock. Can be mixed with food-grade DE, too. I use it in all my animals' litter, even the barn cat boxes. Then if you have a leak you have a little time to find it and fix it without the ammonia (or methane) getting out of control. The product is mined in British Comumbia and is popular throughout Canada and the northwest US.

Pelletized lime is actually pelletized limestone.
(Avoid most products with lime, very caustic and too easy to get the wrong thing. Above all avoid quicklime, which is the same alkalinity as Draino and which gets worse as it gets wet. )

 

[HatchingTheSolution]

Hi guys! First post so if im in a wrong thread for this please let me know. I have 10 hens 1 rooster and i switched them onto layer feed at the same time of fermenting feed also. They love the feed and everything is going smooth. Their poops are a little to smooth, but i hear thats normal. There is now a heavy ammonia smell in the coop and i am curious does that have to do with the feed?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi @HatchingTheSolution Welcome To BYC

Usually having a strong ammonia smell in the coop would be due to excessive droppings in the coop and/or poor ventilation.

If you want to post some photos of your coop set-up, we will be happy to take a look. It may just be a simple fix of cleaning up the droppings daily or several times a week and adding more air flow to your coop. Some of us use variations of "poop boards" where the droppings fall into something like sand, pdz or combination - this makes the poop easy to scoop.

There's a wealth of information here on BYC about coop design, manure management and more so take some time to search out what solutions will fit your situation.
Just my thoughts.
Ventilation:http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/c...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

 

[3riverschick]

Equine Fresh is great! I once had a run and it rained and I literally had a small pool in the Run. it was muddy and it stunk so bad. I went to Tractor Supply and I got a full bag of Equine Fresh. poured it in this putrid , muddy water hole. the hole disappeared immediately as the stall pellets exploded into wet sweet smelling sawdust .it was great! the hole was filled, the smell was gone and the birds were happy. Win, win !
Karen