chicken yard stinks, what can i do?

[whatsup chickenbutt]

My chickens have a coop,which is a large closet in my barn, and a yard, which is approximately 5'x30'. My question is how do i combat the smell from the chicken yard? Its not exactly a bad smell, well, it is bad, but not like ammonia or an unhealthy smell, just a chicken coop smell, and I dont like it much. It seems to stink up the whole back of my property. Is this normal? Its been rainy the past couple of days, so that may be why, but what do you do to clean the chicken yard? Rake it? turn over the chicken poop and dirt with a shovel, add fresh dirt often? Maybe 12 chickens are too many for that space? Im new to chickens and perhaps am missing an important cleaning element that I dont know about. its not the smell of the coop that Im concerned about, I know that will smell like chickens, its the air surrounding the chicken yard. It just kind of sits in the air in a 25 foot radius. Maybe its just because its wet right now.

 

[Chicabee19]

From what I hear, the people who have a good few inches of sand in the run don't have much of a problem with smell. That's the way I'm gonna go!

 

[LynneP]

Food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE) is useful as a drying agent and deodorizer indoors and out. So is Stable Boy. Combined with sand you'll see immediate improvement in your run. Ideally a covered run would save you a lot of grief, but it's an expense to create. Is your run covered in some way to protect the birds?

 

[whatsup chickenbutt]

the run is only covered in certain areas for them to run to protection if they need it, but not fully. So then you are saying its the moisture? I had a question about the DE anyway, isnt that also for bug control? and can you get it at a farm store? am i understanding correctly that you just sort of spread it everywhere, and in the coop as well, mixed with the shavings?
thanks,

 

[clarey]

In the UK we have something called Stalosan F which gets rid of smells... don't know what your equivalent would be?

 

[LoneCowboy]

I have the same problem but only after it rains. People on this forum suggested stable dry. I only have the problem in one of my runs and I have 4. It's the one that doesn't drain well after a rain. I think adding the sand would be really helpful.

 

[HaleMoa]

I had a question about the DE anyway, isnt that also for bug control?

yup! but be very very sure that its food grade. the other stuff used for slugs and snails is like over 80% and processed and way too strong, it could kill your flock. the food grade is less than 5% or something like that, should be minimally processed and even safe for us humans to ingest. (some people do that to de-worm themselves, but thats a whole nother post)...anyway, the food grade DE should do the trick. and yah, its alot about the heat+moisture...​

 

[WoodlandWoman]

We added a layer of sand on top. It worked well.

 

[LynneP]

Yep. DE is multipurpose, indoors and out- drying agent, bug control, dust baths...and yes you are correct about keeping the birds dry. If possible, your run will be nearly odor free.