Ammonia Smell

[awalker818]

Hello friends!

I have 7 chickens and 3 guineas who all sleep in the same coop every night. The guineas poop a lot more than the chickens and I am having trouble keeping the ammonia smell under control. The coop is lifted, has a door for them to come in and out, and two windows higher up for ventilation. I have been trying the deep layer method and it has been working, but to an certain point. I have had to put fly traps around the coop to help with the that. I'm not sure what to do about the smell. I live in central Texas and need some advice <3

Thanks!!

 

[MarkJr]

Hello friends!

I have 7 chickens and 3 guineas who all sleep in the same coop every night. The guineas poop a lot more than the chickens and I am having trouble keeping the ammonia smell under control. The coop is lifted, has a door for them to come in and out, and two windows higher up for ventilation. I have been trying the deep layer method and it has been working, but to an certain point. I have had to put fly traps around the coop to help with the that. I'm not sure what to do about the smell. I live in central Texas and need some advice <3

Thanks!!

How big are your windows up high? 1 sqft per chicken is rule of thumb.

 

[MarkJr]

Also how large is your coop in feet by feet. If coop is under size, all the ventilation won’t help too high of a poop load.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello friends!

I have 7 chickens and 3 guineas who all sleep in the same coop every night. The guineas poop a lot more than the chickens and I am having trouble keeping the ammonia smell under control. The coop is lifted, has a door for them to come in and out, and two windows higher up for ventilation. I have been trying the deep layer method and it has been working, but to an certain point. I have had to put fly traps around the coop to help with the that. I'm not sure what to do about the smell. I live in central Texas and need some advice <3

Thanks!!

It sounds like the DLM is not working at all.
In TX you need LOTS of ventilation. You could probably do an open air coop with one wall just 1/2" hardware cloth.
You may also want to consider poop boards so you can remove the nightly poop load each morning.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

If the ammonia smell is too strong the deep litter isn’t working. You either need to add significantly more bedding, or start using a scoopable litter like sand. I personally the cost of deep litter was more than scooping.

 

[awalker818]

How big are your windows up high? 1 sqft per chicken is rule of thumb.

They are 2 ft by 2 ft and there is 2 of them and their entry/exit door is open, and when I am home in the afternoon I open my door because they love jumping in and out of that one for some reason

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Wetness + moisture + poop = stink!
I do my best to keep it dry & clean.
When we get several rainy days, even the humid air can make it stinky.
I use wood flakes & chips in the coops which have wooden floors.
I try to keep a few windows open, how much depends on weather obviously, at least a crack when cold, for air.
Every morning I check for eggs, but also have a 5 gal bucket & scoop, like a kitty litter scooper, and I scoop the poop, usually heaviest accumulations are under night perches. This alone has really helped me, and it doesn't take long to do. If you don't do that, they will eventually scratch and move poo all around, making it harder or more time consuming to find the big poo balls, rolled around in wood chips, resembling poop macaroons. I have found there's a perfect balance amount of chips I can add, too much ends up being kicked up into the water or feed, despite having elevated them on landscape blocks. So my keep litter method is not super deep, therefore taking 15 min to scoop poop every morning as it sits waiting right on top of the chips under perches is the best thing I have found, that does indeed help keep things dry & stink free.
I have a pair that also like playing in water! Not sure if they were ducks in a previous life or are wishing they were ducks, lol, but they literally were splashing water all over the place having great fun. Once I elevated the water on top of 3 landscape blocks, that behaviour stopped. It is the perfect height for everyone to get a drink, keep wood chips out of the water, and stop those 2 from draining the waterer, splashing making a wet mess.
Also, the square footage & number if birds pooping, as well as their behavior, makes a difference. My 1st coop is too small, the 2nd is just right. In the 1st coop I noticed woodchips get moist fast & stink. Also, that group of birds kicks the night poop around before I get a chance to scoop it, ornery RIR, Maran & Comet. They are not nearly as clean as my Buffs, Ameraucanas & Wyandottes. Funny how differently they act, messy & very impatient, but I still love em. I will be remodeling & expanding the 1st coop soon!
Hope this helps.

 

[3KillerBs]

A strong ammonia odor generally indicates either overstocking of chickens in the space available so that the bedding cannot cope with the amount of poop they produce, inadequate ventilation, or both.

The usual rule of thumb is that chickens should have 4 square feet of room in the coop and 10 square feet of room in the run and that there should be at least 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation per bird.

Ventilation is best located high up at the top of the coop because ammonia rises. Windows lower down on the walls may not suffice if the ammonia can build up above the level of the openings.

Deep Bedding and Deep Litter are often confused. Deep Bedding is a dry system, usually used inside the coop where you just keep on laying in more and more dry bedding to absorb the moisture in the poop and thus keep the coop sanitary through denying bacteria the water it needs to grow.

Deep Litter is a moist, composting system, which usually does best with direct ground contact and is usually used in the run. In this system when you have the correct ratio of high-nitrogen poop to high-carbon bedding and adequate but not excessive moisture the composting action will digest the poop and bedding, creating compost for your garden. Over-stocking chickens, under-supplying bedding, and/or having excessive moisture all throw the system out of balance and cause odor problems.

I'm not familiar with space requirements of guineas but it looks like you have 10 birds but only 8 square feet of constant ventilation. How big is the coop itself? Could you post pictures to help us troubleshoot for you?

 

[aart]

I have 7 chickens and 3 guineas who all sleep in the same coop every night.

Dimensions and pics of coop, inside and out, would help here.