Amonia smell - deep litter method in Iowa

[lilchick]

I had a problem with one of my barns being damp and smelly. Especially when it warmed up to the 50's.. I keep their 2 windows open and 2 vents but it still got damp floors..
So my son and I cleaned it out which a 10 by 12 barn, several inches deep = 2 hours hard labor!
I scraped their shelves and platforms and attempted wiping the fuzzies off the walls! Left it wide open during the day and the floors and side walls dried up nicely. I then put fresh pine shavings down. I do not like straw because it clumps together and does not help with the smell.....

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Actually, of course I am not knocking opening more ventilation (!)

, it is possible that your 'great wall of poop' is nearly the entire problem. That'll put out a WHOLE BIG LOT of ammonia, especially when the poo is just plain without shavings mixed in through it nor part-buried in the litter.

Switch it for a droppings board scraped off (poo removed from coop) every morning, realio trulio, and life may get a LOT better

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[stephhassler]

I got some lime and some pine shavings from the local farm fleet store. I raked all the litter and mixed in some lime and then added the new pine shavings. The interesting thing was the "great wall of poop" did not have much of an amonia smell. There were two wet spots in the coop. One was by the door, which is to be expected with snow being tracked in and out. The second was in the middle - in an odd place - not under the roost or the nest box - just in the middle of the coop. It smelled very strongly of amonia. I must admitt I'm not real excited about removing a layer of fresh poop from a droppings board every day. The great wall of poop didn't smell, so I'm wondering if it is decomposing and generating heat?

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Is it possible you have a roof leak/drip there. Wet pooey bedding will indeed release a buncha ammonia.

I must admitt I'm not real excited about removing a layer of fresh poop from a droppings board every day. The great wall of poop didn't smell, so I'm wondering if it is decomposing and generating heat?

Probably a large part of why it didn't smell is that the ammonia was already in the air...

What is the problem with scraping the droppings board every day, though? It takes, literally, about 15 seconds maximum. I had been using a dustpan, am now using a very wide metal scraper (I think for removing wallpaper? it's maybe 10" wide, like a paint scraper). You just run it along the droppings board in one motion, snowplowing the poo off at an angle into a bucket that you move along as you go. INCREDIBLY simple. Simpler, if you ask me, than letting it build up and having to deal with an accreted mess.

Just a thought, good luck,

Pat​

 

[stephhassler]

What do you do with your scraped poo everyday? My compost pile has been covered with 2 feet of snow all winter. I guess i could pile it on top of the snow?

 

[Rufflemyfeathers]

I use deep litter method with pine shavings over sand in Florida and I sprinkle DE on it..chickens mix it up for me..my pens stay dry and lack of oder..well the coops smell like chickens but in a good way..I am very pleased with using DE.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Same as for composting anything in the winter... I just pile it on (shove some of the snow off with my foot first, if necessary, or stomp a hole thru the snow on the pile). Sure, snow gets in the pile, but, you know, it just *does*

Because the stuff coming off the droppings board is mostly pure poo (although in the coldest part of winter I put a dusting of shavings down to keep the poo from freezing tight to the board), I scoop out some of the ugliest bedding every few weeks and toss that on top of the poo on the compost pile. But anything else carbonaceous, like shredded paper or old leaves, would work fine too. The only reason is to balance the C:N ratio a bit better so ti composts better (and in a more odor-free way) once spring comes.

Some people up here alternatively store their winter compostables in a garbage can(s) in a protected location for the snowiest parts of winter, and put 'em out on a warm day when things have melted down somewhat. If you turn the can upside down where you want it, it doesn't take too much sunny day-ness to melt it enough that you can get the can off, and the stuff will then gradually slump down into a compost pile.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Lesa]

My compost pile is too far away from my coop, in the winter. I am not motivated to shovel yet another path!! I was putting the morning poo in a garden in the backyard- figuring it could sit there until spring, when I could move it. Then I discovered my new puppy was having a morning snack of poop!! So, on to plan c. I now am putting the am poop into a feed bag. My idea is, the minute it gets nice enough I will dump the bag where I need it. The greatest thing about the board idea, is that it is pure manure- so no need to wait for wood chips to compost. It really only takes a few seconds to do each day.

 

[stephhassler]

Huge improvement this morning. No smell at all - except a nice smell of pine shavings. I'll give the daily poo removal a try and see how it goes. My compost pile is a ways away from the coop, so as long as the snow is not too high, I'd probably walk it over there. But as another post said, I'm not going to shovel through 2 feet of snow to make a path to the compost pile. If we get a bunch of snow again, I'll probably just dump it in the field behind the coop. I'm sure the weeds would just love it! Thanks again to everyone who replied.

 

[LynneP]

I think you'll be impressed with the daily poop removal - you'll get at least 80% of the droppings and your bedding needs will drop dramatically. It makes being in the coop more pleasant for you, and for the birds...