So we keep our chicken coops as clean as possible. I am usually the one to scoop out droppings that build up, sprinkle DE in nest boxes, etc. But when I went to camp for a week, no one remembered to clean the coop, since I usually do it. So after a few days when I got back(thinking that the coop was clean), I never noticed how dirty it really is.
A few days ago, I was in the coop and realized how bad it was starting to smell. It looked fairly clean to me. A few droppings here and there. The shavings looked clean. So I decided to scoop all of it out to see where the smell was coming from. To my surprise, there was a large mound of chicken poop(under the place where our chickens usually sleep at night) and it had been covered with shavings so no one noticed it. In the pile of poop were a whole mess of worm-like things. Kinda like maggots, but bigger. Our chickens didn't poop those out, of course. I think that some flies had laid eggs in the poop and the about 1/2 inch fat worms were the larvae.
It was SO nasty! There were also tiny black flies crawling through the mound of poop.
So, I took a cup of DE and sprinkled it all over and through the mound of droppings; hopefully it will suffocate the larvae, like it does to internal worms.
I better be more careful when cleaning the coops!
A few days ago, I was in the coop and realized how bad it was starting to smell. It looked fairly clean to me. A few droppings here and there. The shavings looked clean. So I decided to scoop all of it out to see where the smell was coming from. To my surprise, there was a large mound of chicken poop(under the place where our chickens usually sleep at night) and it had been covered with shavings so no one noticed it. In the pile of poop were a whole mess of worm-like things. Kinda like maggots, but bigger. Our chickens didn't poop those out, of course. I think that some flies had laid eggs in the poop and the about 1/2 inch fat worms were the larvae.
So, I took a cup of DE and sprinkled it all over and through the mound of droppings; hopefully it will suffocate the larvae, like it does to internal worms.
I better be more careful when cleaning the coops!
