Coop is stincking up i need to get rid of the poop smell, someone k

[chickenspugetsound]

I need to make the enclosed area were the chickens are at smell better, its really stating to smell bad, i will clean the area out where they perch hope this helps

 

[OrpingtonManor]

what are you using for bedding?

 

[Southernbelle]

What size is your coop and how many do you have in it?

Cleaning under the roosts will probably help. Regular scooping of dirty litter and replacing with fresh will probably be the most effective treatment. Adding DE or Stall Dry may help. Placing the waterer out in the run may help, if they're spilling it and getting the litter dirty.

Try running a search on "deep litter method" and see if it sounds like it would work for you.

Glad you joined the forum!

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Some questions that will help us answer your questions:
Size of birds (large, bantam, mixed sizes
#of birds?
Square footage of your coop?
bedding material?
Do you have a dropping board or a pit?
do you have ventualtion in your coop?
Where are you located?
What is the flooring material of the coop.
how often do you clean.

If you have too many birds for your square footage, you will need to clean and replace litter almost every day.
If you have straw or hay--try pine shavings
Even in colder weather the coop needs ventualtion, crack windows, open doors
Check your floors to make sure you bedding isn't wet, molded, rotting..
If you offer water in the coop, make sure you have a pan, plastic tub lid is what I use, to catch any drips, spills.

 

[kyrabear]

So I am new at this.. I now have 49 hens, they roost in a metal shed(like a lawn mower shed) and have a run outside. I would like to know how to keep the coop from being so smelly. And exactly how much feed I should be going through?? I do give them some corn and veggies when I have them. I have been getting plenty of eggs daily, anywhere from 34-42 eggs per day. And right now I can't get rid of the eggs I have I really enjoy my girls, I let them free range some, depends if I will be home to watch them or not, my dog as killed 3 or 4 already, so I have to be careful. They will be 1 yr old this June, red stars and aracunas. And would I need to get more birds to keep eegs coming for next yr?

Thanks!! Cancer survivor

 

[OrpingtonManor]

In response to kyrabear --
So, if you have 49 hens, assuming they are standard, not bantams, and each hen needs a minimum of 4 sq ft of coop space, that's 196sq ft. That's approximately a 20'x10' buillding. Anything smaller, and the birds will pick on each other, and the ammonia smell will be terrible. A lawnmower shed is probably not larger than 10'x10', but only you know the actual shed they are in. It's probably not big enough.

In addition to the minimum sq footage of floor space per bird, they should also have roosts, ventilation, and a run or outside pen that gives a minimum of 10 sq ft per bird, if they are not free ranging all day.

The egg production will drop off some the second year, but most people don't cull their birds so young. You are getting more eggs than you need now, so I would not get more birds if I was you.


Please consider enlarging their living space. What they have right now is not adequate for the birds' health. I know you want to do the right thing for them, since you came here to ask for help.

Keep us posted on what you do.

ETA - to the OP, sorry we hijacked your thread. This last post had to be answered.

 

[Sasquatch]

Regular changing of the litter is the only way. Make sure you don't have water spills from your drinkers as well.

 

[kyrabear]

So could you tell me what "cull" means, when comes to my birds?

I do only have a 10x10 shed right now for my girls, I just got rid of all of my roosters(10 of them), I do plan on extending it this spring for them.. And they do get to get out to rome around out in the yard and the field almost everyday. So far I don't have any kind of picking problems!!

I even had an injured girl and doctored her up and they didn't bother her. They have a pretty nice size roost and a nice size nesting box, 4 long(large) and 4 high, they dont use all of them though. I feed them inside on a handing feeder and water them outside. I strip the coop about once or twice a month, and I usually put a little straw down, but not a lot.

Do I need to worm the girls like I do my dogs? And I hear about lice and stuff.. what do I look for?

What do you do with the manure from the coop?

Thanks... Cancer Survivor!!

 

[patandchickens]

chickenspugetsound -- is this the indoor area you're having trouble with, or the outdoor run, or both? If the indoor area smells, you need much more ventilation (cut LARGE holes in the walls, screen with hardwarecloth, there ya go) and possibly better sanitation. If the outdoor run smells, it is likely from having too much mud and/or wet organic matter (shavings, wood chips, straw, hay?) out there with poo in it. Removing all organic matter will help, as will doing various things to get the run to be drier.

See my "Big Ol' Ventilation Page" and muddy run page, links in my .sig below, for a lot more on how to address those two issues.

kyrabear, that is a GIANT number of chickens in not much space, and those metal sheds have very little ventilation. If you already have more eggs than you know what to do with, one sensible step would be to get rid of about half the chickens, which would halve your problem right there

If you are going to go on using the metal shed as housing (it will be a problem in the summer, but...) you are going to HAVE to figure out a way of putting quite a lot more ventilation in there, and removing the poo quite a lot more frequently. If there is enough ammonia for your nose to smell, there is enough to be damaging the birds' respiratory systems. See "Big Ol' Ventilation Page' in my .sig below.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat