Chicken smell and noise

[TheChickenProject]

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Real good to know. Thanks for the info. Maybe I can re-work my coop plans to seperate the hens and minimize noise during egg laying.

 

[vachicks]

Mine are no where near as noisy as the dogs barking all day and night long, and I haven't complained about them. Of course mine haven't laid yet either.

 

[TheChickenProject]

While talking about the smell.....I have another question on litter.

I was reading on the Deep Litter Method when it occurred to me I did not plan on litter in the coop. I am planning a raised coop above the run. Probably a side run to give them more room. Since it will only be three birds and a night time coop, will I need to plan on litter inside the coop on just hay on the floor? I expected the coop to be fairly clean and dry while the majority of the poop will happen in the daytime runs below. (I have planned poop trays for the night time droppings.)

Should I consider litter in the run or just use hay/stray while cleaning daily? How about using mulch from the township? Should I plan a dusting area?

Thanks everyone, I really appriciate the help and advice.

 

[KKatknap]

I would make sure you have a "poop board" under the roost. Makes a HUGE difference in the cleanliness of the whole coop. You can just scrape it in the morning and it's done. They do a surprising amount of pooping at night.

 

[AnnainMD]

My cat smells more than my chickens do (I have 4 almost-adults and 8 5-week olds all together). Of course I'm referring to her litter box and occasionally smelly canned food. I have poop trays in the coop with a dessicant (Stall-Dri) that dehydrates the poop. I'm actually quite surprised how "non-odorous" the coop is. It smells like chickens and pine shavings. I'm impressed!

 

[AnnainMD]

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Don't "plan" a dusting area, they'll make one where they'll like one to be, which is never where you think it should be. You can add stuff to the area once it's an established dustbathing spot. We had taken a pine tree down and I've used the pine chippings in the run and I'm quite pleased with how it covers up the poop, gives them something to scratch and allows me to rake and further cover up poop once a week. I'm going to add some dirt under the coop (the shaded area) as right now it's just hard soil.
I've heard hay and straw in the run are not such great ideas--tend to keep things moist and smelly and get compacted down. No personal experience with it though.

 

[ChooksChick]

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I think hay should be considered litter. I have used several things and always come back to hay- I think it works better than other litters for us, as we have a plywood floor on our coop. I also scatter some hay on the poop board, as well as DE, to keep it from adhering so much. Hay doesn't get kicked out of the coop into the yard & run the way shavings do, and the girls always choose the nests with hay, rather than shavings.

Litter is also important if your roost is very high and your birds are large fowl. Jumping down from the roost can injure them terribly- I lost one to yolk peritonitis because she jumped to the feed area where there is no litter and broke her pelvis. She recovered from the pelvis, but it turns out an egg broke inside, causing an infection that was indiscernible. We sent her for a necropsy and they made the discovery there. So no high jumps to get down w/o lots of cushioning!

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

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Now that is

, we all said this before might I suggest you not say Only when your talking about how many you will own. beleive me you sauy only but it will be more maybe not the first time you get chicks but in time they will suck you in witht heir cuteness and you will not be able to say NO!,before you realize it you will be saying 3 more won't hurt then 5 more can't hurt......Then like all of us you will be caught in their trap.

I have 24 in all and as long as you keep the coop and run clean/dry very well vented the smell isn't there Might I suggest if your worried about the smell you should buy a bag of DE to use it will help keep the smell down as well as some of the wetness in the coop and yes the deep litter way is the way to go because you just turn it throw down some DE and your done mice clean dry non smelly litter (you still need to clean it out just not as often.


Good Luck to you

 

[chick4chix]

I am in a totally suburban neighborhood with my neighbors right next to where the chicken ark and run are. It's really important to keep their area clean,clean, clean - for your neighbors as well as the chickens themselves. I cover the run with fresh straw which smells nice and clean- I rake it up less often in the winter but in the summer I do it once a week or once every other week depending on how hot it's been. It then goes directly into the compost bin where it turns into lovely soil ammendment. The girls ark roost and nest area is covered with pine shavings which gets cleaned out and refreshed once a week winter or summer- it also goes right into the compost bin. I have no smells whatsoever. As far as the noise is concerned the girls are pretty quiet for the most part just clucking and chortling to themselves but when they lay and egg or are about to they can be quite loud. It depends on the chicken- I have two girls that go up and lay an egg with no fuss no bother- I have two more who do a cackle/cluck while in the nest then announce it afterwards briefly with the typical - bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk baaaaaagaaawwwwwk! But.......... I have one girl, an EE who gives new meaning to the word "egg song" there is nothing melodious about her and if anything she sounds like she is being killed. She will even get excited and carry on while another one is laying an egg even though she is not. She is the neighborhood gossip I suppose- every neighborhood has one Luckily for me, my next door neighbor loves their sound

 

[jdellosso]

I purchased a small coop (about 4 feet wide, 2 1/2 feet deep, 4 feet high with one foot legs) that has a removeable pan that I line with newspaper. There's a wire floor, so the poop just drops through to the paper. This is very convenient, as they just sleep here and lay their eggs in the nesting box in the back. The only litter I use are pine shavings in their laying box. Others use shredded newspaper, hay, whatever, just make sure it's edible (just in case, they will give it a taste), non-toxic and relatively low in dust. Though they don't typically mess in their laying box, they do hit it now and then while roosting, and once a week I just dump the whole thing in the compost.

They'll do the majority of pooping on the ground or wherever, like you said. I have friends that put down hay, and the girls seem to like it, more to scratch around and find bugs. I agree with the previous post...when it gets wet, it can mildew and cause big problems and a big mess for you to clean up. If they have access to grass and dirt, you probably won't need litter, especially with just 2 or 3 birds. At least, I have not found a need for it!