Having trouble with dirt run(smell)

[busymama9]

I have 5 16 week old hens (no eggs yet!). They have been outdoors in their coop/run since the first week of December. Up until now the dirt run has been ok. No smell. It is 16x10 feet and enclosed but not covered. I am in southern Nevada with clay type soil and we are on 1/2 acre city lot. They do not free range.

There are two trees with drip systems inside the coop and the water from them when they water is the source of the smell I believe. I have not been able to figure out a daily maintaince system for keeping the run clean. I can't rake the poo up. It just disappears into the dirt.

But now that's it's stinky I'm wondering if I should do something else. Maybe throw straw over the whole thing? Maybe some course sand first to help the water drain? And the straw?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Search deep litter method here on BYC, there are several good threads on using it for easy, no work, no smell management

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hey deep litter is great but please look at white shavings not straw depending on weather straw may rot as in mold

 

[busymama9]

Search deep litter method here on BYC, there are several good threads on using it for easy, no work, no smell management

Will the deep liter method work in the large run? It is what I'm using in the coop.

 

[Howard E]

These photos were taken of a mulched down garden, but I help my daughter do the same thing inside their hoop coop. The mulch you see is old, coarse, worthless grass hay. Grass hay....not straw, not good hay like alfalfa, etc. Old, coarse grass hay. Sold on craigslist around here for $3 per square bale. About 6 inches to a foot deep to start. About one square bale per 100 square feet should be a good place to start.

Stems of grass hay are hard and round and they don't break down easily Straw......as from wheat, oats, barley, etc. tends to be thin walled and collapses easily, meaning when it gets wet, straw tends to mat into a wet smelly mess. Hay drains water easily and any droppings just wash on through.

But with hers in particular, which does exactly as you described.....on bare dirt, she gets mud, flies and stink. With hay, none of that.






What eventually collects beneath this, however, is a mix of soil, droppings and black organic matter. Something you may want to clean out now and then, and would want to anyway. It is rich fertile organic matter for flowers, gardens, etc.

 

[Folly's place]

I use baled shavings, and then whatever's available, as in some hay, grass clippings, or any chopped up non-poisonous plants. Mostly shavings. It will keep the birds busy, and be a much better surface, rather than nasty bare dirt.
Mary

 

[DwayneNLiz]

mix lime in with the soil, it cuts the smell and makes the soil more alkaline

 

[ChickNanny13]

Sweet PDZ mixed into your deep litter, wonderful! It's a horse stall odor neutralizer, so need to check in the equine dept.

I've been doing DLM for the past couple years (white shavings), so far it's been GREAT! No smell & flies. I do remove "old" stuff when I need fill for holes in the yard or garden but the past year have only added as needed. I don't let these girls out cause the last batch I had dug deep holes in the yard.

 

[Pater est Pullis]

Sweet PDZ mixed into your deep litter, wonderful! It's a horse stall odor neutralizer, so need to check in the equine dept.

I've been doing DLM for the past couple years (white shavings), so far it's been GREAT! No smell & flies. I do remove "old" stuff when I need fill for holes in the yard or garden but the past year have only added as needed. I don't let these girls out cause the last batch I had dug deep holes in the yard.

I love PDZ, use it in my coop, floor/pine shavings, and poop boards (straight PDZ, they're edged, and use a long handled scooper, like cleaning a cat box).

 

[nminusyplusm]

Hey deep litter is great but please look at white shavings not straw depending on weather straw may rot as in mold

I understand mold might be a problem in different parts of the country, but as a desert dweller I have the opposite situation-- I use straw as my main DL ingredient and need to add water to get things composting. It never molds in my run. In Nevada straw may work wonderfully.