Foul smell from new chicks?

[PantherWaltz]

Hi! So I recently bought some chicks from a person local to me. I've had them for a couple days now, and no matter what I do I can't seem to get rid of a bad smell they have.

I've had plenty of chickens and chicks these last few years, and I've never had them smell like this before. It's like a strong badly kept pet store smell, like days old pet droppings. I noticed it when I went to go pick them up and have not stopped noticing it since.

I've taken them all baths with Dawn dish soap, and it's still not going away. I think it might be something they've been fed that's causing their feces to have a strong smell.

I'm hoping it goes away the longer they're with me, that's the only thing I can think would be different between them and all the other chicks I've had is probably environment. (The breeds also ones I haven't had before but I have a friend that has these breeds as well and never smell them even there.)

Has anybody else bought chicks that smell bad? What do you do to fix it?

 

[PantherWaltz]

Oh also the area I bought them from it's kind of like a pretty bad area, like the whole town is pretty much a giant trailer park. The property didn't seem too bad but the people normally in that area have me questioning how they were kept

 

[DonyaQuick]

What breed are the chicks? Got pictures of them and the setup they're in? Are they eating and growing well?

If there's something that's causing them to prefer to lie in soiled areas, then that would make for stinky chicks for sure. Lying on wet shavings can be enough to transfer that ammonia smell onto them.

Different birds can also smell different to a degree. My more dual-purpose breed birds and crosses that have more muscle mass produced stinkier substrate faster. The birds themselves were not stinky though unless they got into their own poop. I recently had just one of those more meaty chicks hatched with a batch of other layer-type ones, and that one hefty chick managed to really stink-ify the brooder despite regular cleaning. The bird itself though smelled fine.

 

[PantherWaltz]

What breed are the chicks? Got pictures of them and the setup they're in? Are they eating and growing well?

This is my setup, it's what I've used for my other chicks as well. Normally there's a lot more straw, and the blue lining isn't normally visible, but I had just ran out when I replaced the bedding.

Breeds are naked neck, amerucana, Jersey Giant, and brahma.
Jersey Giants are the only breeds in that mixed that I've had before.

(There's normally an actual container I put the food in but couldn't find it when I put them in, I've been organized it a bit better.)

They seem to be eating and drinking well. When I first put them in there was one that looked pretty lethargic so I had ran out to grab electrolytes and probiotics, but when I got back he was perfectly fine and playing with the others.

 

[PantherWaltz]

Oh also when I did bring them home originally, some of them were covered in a bit of feces. I think they might have been packed in to their brooder since the guy said he had over 300 chicks.

 

[DonyaQuick]

There's normally an actual container I put the food in but couldn't find it when I put them in

If they're pushing feed around and it's getting wet, that could totally make stinky feathers. Doesn't look wet in the photo though...and it looks like they're pushing it away from the water rather than towards it.

Breeds are naked neck, amerucana, Jersey Giant, and brahma.
Jersey Giants are the only breeds in that mixed that I've had before.

The Jersey giants would've been my guess for causing the smell, but since you've had those before, I guess there goes that hypothesis! Hmm. I do notice from the pic that you've got a Godzilla in there of one of the other breeds; it could be having a similar effect. I've never used straw in a brooder myself but it doesn't absorb well; maybe the big chick is making a disproportionate mess that the straw & pads aren't keeping up?

Oh also when I did bring them home originally, some of them were covered in a bit of feces. I think they might have been packed in to their brooder since the guy said he had over 300 chicks.

I'd think that would wash off, especially since you used soap.

 

[PantherWaltz]

If they're pushing feed around and it's getting wet, that could totally make stinky feathers. Doesn't look wet in the photo though...and it looks like they're pushing it away from the water rather than towards it.


The Jersey giants would've been my guess for causing the smell, but since you've had those before, I guess there goes that hypothesis! Hmm. I do notice from the pic that you've got a Godzilla in there of one of the other breeds; it could be having a similar effect. I've never used straw in a brooder myself but it doesn't absorb well; maybe the big chick is making a disproportionate mess that the straw & pads aren't keeping up?


I'd think that would wash off, especially since you used soap.

Now that you mention it, it's probably a combination of those things. There's more bigger chicken breeds in there than I normally have at once, and now that I think about it they, do sleep a lot more than the other chicks I've had, so actually they are laying down quite a bit.

I'll keep observing, and see if anything changes over the next few days, since I have a slight suspicion that they're sick, and I've been treating them as such. I'll also buy some new bedding to better accommodate the extra waste. Any particular types of wood chip you would recommend?

 

[DonyaQuick]

I'll keep observing, and see if anything changes over the next few days, since I have a slight suspicion that they're sick, and I've been treating them as such. I'll also buy some new bedding to better accommodate the extra waste. Any particular types of wood chip you would recommend?

I just use pine shavings of various types. If dust minimization is a priority (like if the brooder is in the house), I've found Impeckables Poultry Bedding to be the the king of being dust-free among the various shavings brands I've tried - but it is definitely pricey per volume. Other large flake shavings like the white bags from TSC are also usually lower dust an less likely to be seen as edible than fine or mixed-size shavings.

As far as wood chips rather than shavings, I've never been able to get sterile or at least stored-in-a-protected-way wood chips locally, so I've never tested anything but shavings in brooders.

 

[PantherWaltz]

I just use pine shavings of various types. If dust minimization is a priority (like if the brooder is in the house), I've found Impeckables Poultry Bedding to be the the king of being dust-free among the various shavings brands I've tried - but it is definitely pricey per volume. Other large flake shavings like the white bags from TSC are also usually lower dust an less likely to be seen as edible than fine or mixed-size shavings.

As far as wood chips rather than shavings, I've never been able to get sterile or at least stored-in-a-protected-way wood chips locally, so I've never tested anything but shavings in brooders.

Got it, thanks! I'll look around for wood shavings then! It will probably be better for me anyways, since I've grown allergic to the straw we use