Coop Deotorizors?

[dg14]

Im positive that this is what happens when you have chickens obviously but whenever I move the coop (and the area that they were in is free) (flies come flying of course and you know it stinks) not really going into this I read up that putting dish soap on the area and then spraying it with the hose helps? but im wondering if there are any other natural (not too strong chemical) free deotorizors?

 

[roseyred]

its rained the past 4 days in MD and my freaking run STANK!!! omg and the flies...jeeeeze. so while my chickens were free ranging today i decided to try to clean the sloppy mess which was a nice mix of food, (some grains began sprouting actually from the rain lol), mud, water and poooooooo. from horses i know lime dust is amazing at removing smell and drying up wetness but i don't have any, i know its safe for horses once it settles as they won't be eating it and I'm unsure if its okay if the chickens eat it...since they peck the ground and all. so i have a bunch of diatemacious earth. sure i spelled that wrong. but its a grey powder made up of dried up organisms that are extremely drying to insects and suck the moisture from them. great for killing fleas. so i thought BAM! it'll soak up some wet and kill any flies that land on it and diatomaceous earth is good for chickens, they dust baith in it to help keep bugs at bay and can even eat it. so i threw some down nice and thick and then layered some hay over it. i always use hay not straw cause i have it available and the chickens seem to like to nibble at the little grasses and grains in it. if it gets wet it dries pretty quick and breaks down a lot faster than straw. its not gonna smell like roses but it worked enough for me [=




The flies got the idea as soon as i sprinkled the diatomaceous earth. then covered with hay and wala! no more flies!!

 

[dg14]

That's a great idea! Yeah here in FL its been raining and I even had to make an emergency run to lowes to get a tarp to retarp the top of my coop cuz it was flooding (my poor chickens were soaked I brought them in while the rain stopped and moved it a little then. I've heard of diatamatious earth. I saw this one person use it as a dewormer for their chickens not sure if that's successful or not. doesn't straw/hay attract rats? oooo that's another thing im finding mice poop around my coop which is scaring me I don't know what to do.D: but I havemint spread out everywhere.. I'd like to see a rat come near my coop I have pretty much everything rats hate planted around there and I give my chickens mint so my philosophy is giving them mint protects them from those nasty rodents. lol (Its worked so har) and it doesn't make the eggs smell at all. boy do I love fresh eggs.. there so much better than cruddy store bought eggs.. bpoor chickens I feel so awful with knowing that theirs so many feathered friends who live in a square and are pt on hormones </3

 

[roseyred]

That awsome! i wanna feed mine mint. lately they've been getting some dried finely chopped dates because there a little to old for human consumption lmao. but they don't mind!! as for rats I'm not sure. i know we never have a rat issue where the hay is stored...maybe a couple small mice but they only are really interested in the grain. you could build one of those bucket traps where you put a round skinny pole on top of a bucket coated in oil, they try to get peanut butter or whatever off the pole and fall into the bucket hahah

 

[dg14]

Now that's just too funny lmao. i'll definitely consider that though! Yeah mine go crazy for mint they litrslly peck at each other to get a piece especially my top hen ooo you do not want to steal her bite shes a barred rock to so shes already bossy XD

 

[yolksonus]

I have read on BYC forums many people using PDZ to help with the smell of the coop. It's apparently healthier than diatomaceous earth (you don't have to wear a mask when using it) and doesn't kill the small insects that the chicks would normally eat. I haven't had an issue with smell yet, but am getting some PDZ today.

 

[roseyred]

never heard of that stuff. sounds cool. if i had anymore money to spend on chickens id consider it lol. the bag of DE was like $10 for a 30 lb bag and the hay i got free from a friend with horses