Coop too close to our backyard patio!!!!!

[Karen711]

Well I am just worried sick now. I am first time chicken owner and my husband wants nothing to do with it. I think I made a HUGE mistake having the coop and enclosed run built ( can't be moved) too close to our house & backyard patio. It is off to the side of the backyard but really only maybe 50' away. I am worried about the smell......though I plan to scoop daily and use sand in the coop & run due to all the good info I have read on it. I also read a lot about Sweet PDZ which isn't sold in Vancouver BC Canada that I can find.

Any thoughts or information to help will be greatly appreciated as I am beginning to panic. I will be moving the girls to the coop in about ten days.

Coop & run weren't cheap to have built either so I'm already feeling guilty as well
Good grief.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Good husbandry with your coop/run and you should be fine. Yes they can sometimes smell a little but to be quite honest I've become immune I poop pick my coops everyday and hose my runs out once a week. Twice if the weather is wet. I have mine quite close to the house and things are fine. This pic is taken from my back door and my runs and coops are only at the other side of the decking ~

Good luck getting them moved out

 

[JadedPhoenix]

So long as you don't over-crowd your run you should be fine. I've found that many people over-estimate how many chickens they can put in their runs. I made mine way larger than the numbers say I needed for the number of hens I had but that meant that they had more space for the poo to go and help displace the odor. My run is about as close to my apartment building that I rent out and my renters have never smelt a thing.

 

[MeepBeep]

As said good cleaning habits and maintenance as well as staying within your limits chicken number wise and your chickens will have very little detectable odor...

 

[RonoKT]

I use deep litter and there is no bad smell. If I can smell poo when I do my morning chicken stuff, I put down more pine shavings. The poo smell instantly goes and the pine smells fresh and clean. There is loads of information about deep litter on this site where you can read about the benefits. A major benefit to me on top of the easiness and effectiveness, is that the chickens have something to scratch in.

 

[Karen711]

So long as you don't over-crowd your run you should be fine.  I've found that many people over-estimate how many chickens they can put in their runs.  I made mine way larger than the numbers say I needed for the number of hens I had but that meant that they had more space for the poo to go and help displace the odor.  My run is about as close to my apartment building that I rent out and my renters have never smelt a thing.  

Good to hear Is there a deodorizer you use at all??

 

[JadedPhoenix]

Nope. I've thought about trying some that are on the market but I've never got around to it. I'm actually very lazy. My run is very large; 22' by 40' and I keep no more than 25 hens in there on a regular basis.

 

[Karen711]

Nope.  I've thought about trying some that are on the market but I've never got around to it.  I'm actually very lazy.  My run is very large; 22' by 40' and I keep no more than 25 hens in there on a regular basis.  

What do you use in your chicken coop for bedding?? I have read all this hype about sand so tried it in the bigger brooder I moved them too and I'm not really liking it so going to go with pine shavings. My run is dirt but will have things to keep them amused here n there. I only have 7 chickens. You can't be that lazy if you have 25 chickens!!!!

 

[JadedPhoenix]

I have used both sand and shavings but I tend to use shavings more often since it has a deodorizing component to it that sand doesn't. When I clear it out of the coops it goes in a corner of the run for the chickens to scratch through. Right now I have 18 chickens after some culling, I need to cull two more. I have turkey eggs in the bator due this weekend to hatch and I plan to get just a couple of chicks to go with them to bring my numbers back up since I sell eggs at work and my current flock will need some fresh blood by next winter.

 

[wamtazlady]

Odors are funny things. Some people are overly sensitive to odor of any sort. My neighbor has been down to visit and see the chicken coop he built for me. First think he always says is "boy, do they smell". I smell very little odor around the chickens and especially nothing bad. Mainly I smell the pine bedding. Yet I go up to his property and think his horses stink and I know when he lets the dog in the house because I can smell the dog's odor. The neighbor was never concerned when his horse was pooing 6 feet from my bedroom window. My boy friend is never annoyed at odors of animals. He just says it all smells natural to him. But then he grew up on a horse ranch where they always had at least 100 head of horses so he grew up with animal odors.

As long as you clean on a regular basis you should be fine. Chickens of course will smell like chickens, however, that's not a bad smell. It's rotting poo, especially in a wet run that can start to smell rather ripe.