Best ways to keep poo smell down?

[JulieNKC]

Can I use stall dry in my brooder shavings? Thought I'd be able to move the little stinkers outside by now, but looks like they'll be in another week.

 

[Dogfish]

With CX you are best served moving them outside in a movable tractor on grass. Using shavings, not my choice, as they will matt down with poo. Move them once a day and the grass will recover very quickly. A 5x5 movable PVC pen would work just fine. Scale mine down a bit.

 

[journey11]

15 won't be too bad. They do poo like crazy. Much more than a normal chicken and I guess the higher protein feed probably contributes to the smell. We start ours out in the garage. Like another person mentioned, they start to stink very young. The first couple of weeks, you can just keep the shavings stirred and that seems to work. Then as they get bigger and start to poo over every square inch of space, I will daily add another thin layer of new shavings. As soon as they're off the heat lamp and weather permitting, I then kick mine outside in a PVC chicken tractor that I move daily so that the poo won't build up. A couple good rains and it will work down into the soil.

ETA: That's a really nice tractor you have there, Dogfish.

 

[lemongrass]

Quote:
Didn't read the other posts, maybe its been said but...

Constantly adding carbon material will neutralize the smell. What do you use as bedding? Wood chips are a good idea and can often be obtained for free... try calling a tree/stump grinding company to see if they offer this service. They typically will do drop-off but if this doesn't work for your area, you could always ask to do pick-up. I also have straw I add to this, to give them something to nestle in if they want to. That's for the coop... I did notice someone put a pic of a portable chicken tractor on here, which is ideal for sure. No need for bedding! But yeah... in a coop setting, just add carbon -- wood chips, straw, wood shavings, dry leaves (I don't think I'd make this my main one), etc.

Edit to add: To elaborate... its better if they're kept on dirt and then this bedding is added. That way it becomes an active compost. You add a layer each time you start to smell, or just before ideally.. keep adding as needed. If you use them for meat, in between batches mix it up and add more fresh carbon material on top. If the coop gets a good amount of sunlight, you could water it down a bit before adding the fresh dry stuff on top to make a true compost situation, but I do not do this because the stall I keep them in stays very dark... I wouldn't trust it to keep bacteria down without the cleaning/sanitizing quality of the sunlight. Also, I get enough water on my property so it soaks from underneath, and I keep enough dry straw/woodchips on top to keep the birds from the wetness. Only the buggies and stuff go down there, making it a compost. When it builds up too high, you just shovel it out and start again. This also has an added benefit of being warm for the birds (compost naturally heats) and houses lots of yummy bugs for them. If your coop isn't on the ground/soil, I still think it will keep the smell down but may not have the other benefits. I would suggest in such a situation to clean it out only as often as needed (when its piled too high) and then add the carbon/poo mix to the compost pile so it composts fully.

 

[cesco]

Thats a very nice build for a tractor! It would be perfect to pull around my garden, but I live in a town that does not allow chickens! Wish this law has to change with the economy and prices the way they are people will have to start growing more of there own food to surive. Any way I really like the idea of deep bedding. I will just keep adding shavings in layers. I want to feed the poo to my worm bin when its all dry and little less strong. Chicken poo is good but worm castings from chicken poo is GREAT! My worms will enjoy the poo all summer!

So by August I should be able to enjoy my fresh garden tomatoes, made better from worm castings that use to be chicken poo while grilling the best chicken that can be grown!
Wow am I hungry now!!!!

Cesco