clean turkey pen with lime?

[Sandrachx]

i have a 6x6 turkey pen with 6 young turkeys in it at night. during the day they are in a fenced pasture. it's getting pretty stinky in the pen and i was wondering how you experienced turkey parents clean your pen. my neighbor said she puts lime on the ground when her turks are gone, at the end of the season. doesn't know why she does it, just heard she should do it. any advice?

 

[Sandrachx]

after she told me that i couldn't get the song out of my mind: "you put the lime in the turkey hunt to clearn it all up - you put the lime in the turkey hut to make it smell pretty . . ." (sorry, off topic!)

 

[lorrir]

I sprinkle mine with lime too.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

If you use hydrated lime it is very caustic and will burn their feet.

Since it's a small area, shovel out the poo and add a layer of sand. There is no quick and easy method for cleaning livestock pens. If you don't clean them out or let them go fallow it just piles up and gets worse.

Steve in NC

 

[nhcruffler]

I hope Sandrachx does not mind me jumping in on this thread. Remember this is my first go around with birds . I keep my two BBW in a 4x8x 4(H) pen at night. I leave a small florescent light on for them at night. I also have two other lights for heat depending on how cold it is at night( last week got down in the 40s). The door is basically a frame with chicken wire and window screen. The wire is to keep out predators and the screen is to keep out the black flies and mosquitos. I spread wood shavings on the floor and " rake " them daily. I check to make sure they have fresh food and water several times a day. Outside the pen ( coop actually) is a 15 x 25 fenced in area for them to hang out in. I also have another 12 x 25 fenced in area that I alternate placing the turkey in when not free ranging. Now these areas I just hose down daily,along with the porch, to dislove / wash away the poo. Am I over doing it? Can I clean out the inside of the night " pen" with a mild bleach solution in the morning and be good to put the birds back in it at night? What I really need is a Turkey Mentor but until that happens you all are stuck with me. Thanks, NH

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

You say you hose down the runs every day? are they dirt runs?

Steve in NC

 

[nhcruffler]

I just stuck several metal fence posts into my yard and used a 4' x 50' roll of chicken wire. One is under an apple tree and the other shoots off their main pen. With only having two birds, letting them out as much as I can and alternating " runs" it never gets bad and the grass is green. They do have a few dirt spots that they like. This may not be the most secure run but the birds are not getting out ( yet) and my ever faithful beagle ( mix) keeps unwelcome company away.

 

[staples2485]

alright i do this with all my runs i go to my local tsc and get pelleted lime for lawns. when my runs get really smelly usually after heavy rains, I will wait till the run is mostly dried up. I then use a leaf rake to rake all the loose poo and feathers and stuff up and dispose of it. I then apply a good amount of lime over the entire area, then i spray the lime into the ground with the hose i then let it dry out most the way before i let the poultry back onto the dirt. Some times i even add some stall dry to the dirt after it is some what dry and i usually only have to do this once a month. This is because i usually let them out into the field most the day. The reason why the lime helps with the smell is because the reason poo smells is because of the acid in the poo and urine. what the lime does is neutralize the acid in the soil from the poo. It actually sweetens the soil. works great for me and never burns my poultrys feet. Just make sure you wet it down enough so that it desolves the lime. then i some times rake it into the soil. Good luck!

 

[taraann81]

Quote:
Nobody even mentioned this....This is hilarious and honestly had me laughing out loud.....I'm still giggling!