if you are talking briolers/CX, then i would have to agree that the smell can get kind of overwhelming until you find a system that works for you. our first go at 37 last year gave me second thoughts on the whole thing. This year I did a lot of things differently to manage the smell better. here are a couple of thoughts:
- if you are growing out a bunch and freezing them, do it in the cooler months of the shoulder seasons, early spring and early fall after temps go down into the 50's (at least that worked best for us).
- if you can move them in a tractor great, if not, use a deep mulch and remove the top poop layer once or twice a day. dry mulch absorbs a lot of moisture and evaporates a lot as well, making the final weeks way more manageable, making the birds much cleaner, making the scalding water much less disgusting.
- have more than one scalding pot going and swap it out before it gets too smelly. I created a processing area and ran a drain from the drum plucker area away from the house to get the dirty water away.
- if you can swing it, get a drum plucker like the yard bird, it makes the plucking process much more bearable, leaving the birds pretty darn squeaky clean. the drill bit style plucker made such a mess that i was tempted to throw my clothes out at the end, as i was covered from head to toe in chicken funk.
- play around with the protein count of the feed to keep them having more normal droppings, avoiding the watery squirts. less protein often equates into firmer droppings, but too low slows growth, it's a balancing act.
- I found that the type of CX made a huge difference, a strain called the COBB 500 has proven to be very hardy and somewhat cleaner and more "chicken like" than some of the other strains that are simply designed to convert grain into meet for the cheapest possible cost.
all of this may not help someone who is super sensitive. inevitably, chickens scratch and peck at whatever is laying on the ground and they eat some of their own droppings once tuned to dust, it just comes with the territory. I'd say keep the sensitive folks away from the chickens in general, especially in week 6 through to harvest when they have a hard time moving around and staying clean.
- if you are growing out a bunch and freezing them, do it in the cooler months of the shoulder seasons, early spring and early fall after temps go down into the 50's (at least that worked best for us).
- if you can move them in a tractor great, if not, use a deep mulch and remove the top poop layer once or twice a day. dry mulch absorbs a lot of moisture and evaporates a lot as well, making the final weeks way more manageable, making the birds much cleaner, making the scalding water much less disgusting.
- have more than one scalding pot going and swap it out before it gets too smelly. I created a processing area and ran a drain from the drum plucker area away from the house to get the dirty water away.
- if you can swing it, get a drum plucker like the yard bird, it makes the plucking process much more bearable, leaving the birds pretty darn squeaky clean. the drill bit style plucker made such a mess that i was tempted to throw my clothes out at the end, as i was covered from head to toe in chicken funk.
- play around with the protein count of the feed to keep them having more normal droppings, avoiding the watery squirts. less protein often equates into firmer droppings, but too low slows growth, it's a balancing act.
- I found that the type of CX made a huge difference, a strain called the COBB 500 has proven to be very hardy and somewhat cleaner and more "chicken like" than some of the other strains that are simply designed to convert grain into meet for the cheapest possible cost.
all of this may not help someone who is super sensitive. inevitably, chickens scratch and peck at whatever is laying on the ground and they eat some of their own droppings once tuned to dust, it just comes with the territory. I'd say keep the sensitive folks away from the chickens in general, especially in week 6 through to harvest when they have a hard time moving around and staying clean.
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