HELP with Yet ANOTHER outdoor run thread about AWEFUL SMELL - HELP ? PIX included

[bevis]

Here are the facts and the pix

1. Located in central Florida
2. 32 laying hens
3. huge outdoor run all covered in 1/2 hardware cloth - sides and top
4. Run substrate is dirt that the chickens keep turned up pretty well
5. about 30% to 40% of the outside run is under metal roof
6. Its Florida - rain is in the forecast almost EVERY DAY in the summer
7. Add the everyday rain right now and that = TERRIBLE SMELL
8. I have raked in 200 lbs of AG Lime and its effect is minimal at best
9. Most people think " Hey it's Florida and sand everywhere , it will drain quickly" , WRONG. Not when it rains every day.
10. Recently switched from layer crumble to fresh milled mash food bought from local feed mill. Wonder if thats contributing to smell ?
11. The smell is like a sweet sickening smell, YUK
12. Roofed area of run = 9'X18' and 6'X6"
13. Un-Roofed area of run = 10'X12" and 13'X37"
14. I have a suspicion that problem stems from too many birds in too little space

Yup, thats a wireless video camera also one in the coop. I like to keep an eye on them.

Ok BYC'ers , from what I'm reading, a think layer of sand could be the answer
BUT i would need a dump truck load to get a 4 or 5 inch base overtop the dirt.
I have read suggestions stating wood horse stall pellets - need wayyyyyy too many bags at over $5 a bag.
I use PDZ on the poop boards that is a God sent answer to smell elimination.
PDZ in the outside run would require hitting the lottery to be able to pay for how much it would take.
Anyone have any experience with using wood chips ? Pine shavings ? Anything that would be cost effective ?

 

[GitaBooks]

I love the run! Have you ever considered the deep litter system?

 

[FridayYet]

That's what I was thinking - you need a lot of organic material in your runs so the natural microbes can help break down the waste. Wood chips, shavings, grass clippings, dead leaves will all help.

Do you have decent drainage or do you get standing pools of water?

 

[bevis]

we get some standing pools of water in long run thats not roofed.
i don't know much about deep bed method.
we did find a 2' round hole under their 3 gal waterer that just didn't look right
today. i grabbed a handful of it as it was really loose and looked
like a mud hole that was about 1/2 dry. it smelled like DEATH,
i dug it out about a foot deep and put new dirt in it.
i don't know exactly whats going on but i really need to resolve this.

 

[bevis]

and we have had A LOT of rain.
in fact so much that the soil can't drain it away.

 

[redsix]

May be too many chickens to try this, but how about fermenting your feed? It is supposed to cut down on poop odor.

 

[bevis]

you mean the mash feed ?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It looks like a lot of droppings in some places. Maybe rake and shovel out the deepest areas, then run a rototiller over the whole run to aerate the soil. Loose the agriculture lime and use slacked lime instead. You can hear it working when you toss it on the ground. Just be sure not to use slacked lime for body powder it is very caustic. If you are over feeding protein that will result in a strong ammonia odor as the waste protein in your birds' droppings is converted directly into ammonia.

What fermentation accomplishes is to convert some of the protein that you have already paid for into vegetative matter that is lost to your chicken's digestive system this results in less protein being available in your chicken feed to be converted into ammonia.

Isn't that yellow color around one of the feeders spilled feed? There is another possible source for a 'fowl' odor.

 

[bevis]

Roto tilling would be a monumental task at best. there are big pine trees, 18+ inches across, in their run that
have shallow BIG roots everywhere. Maybe a small tiller ran shallow might work if i stay away from the trees.
The roofed areas of the run keeps dug up by the girls as its where they take their dirt baths daily.

Yes the yellow stuff is mash feed around their feeder. I picked up a handful of it and smelled it. No stench.
I really did suspect that the mash food might have been the source but i was wrong.

The 2' across area under their 3 gal waterer was , at least, one source of that smell.
I dug it out about a foot deep and filled it with AG lime and new dirt. Dumped the putrid dirt
in the pond. I also noticed some more areas along a line that divides one section of the run
to another that looks just like the area that i dug out. And that dirt smells like death.
To verify that that particular dirt was the source, i wheeled the wheelbarrow 100' from their run
and picked up a handful of it and smelled it. I about threw up. Source found.

I would never put any caustic material in with my chickens. Thanks for the tip but i'll pass on that one.
I know people use caustic lime to address such issues but i won't be one of them.

I'll dig out the areas and replace with fresh dirt if needed.

Another option would be to roof the unroofed areas but that will be expensive and i already have thousands
in their house and run areas. When its dry out for an extended period of time, like winter here, this problem does not exist.

When i emptied their 3.5 gal waterer in the past, i would dump the water left in it in that spot because they love to
root around in the mud and water. Not ever again will i do that.

Im just trying to understand why that spot got
in a condition that would cause a smell like that.

I will take some pics today of that type of spot in there and post them. You can tell immediately when you see them.
They don't look like the rest of the dirt in the surrounding areas.

 

[TalkALittle]

My guess is that you don't have enough carbon to offset the amount of nitrogen that your birds' poop is adding to the soil. Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen are the magic ingredients for cold composting. Additionally, if you have mud holes, you might have areas where anaerobic decomposition is happening. Water saturated ground doesn't allow for the oxygen that is necessary in aerobic decomposition so instead of carbon dioxide being emitted, you get methane and hydrogen sulfide being emitted. Both are stinky and would account for the"death" smell.

My vote is for deep litter. I had a nasty smell in my saturated run that was completely eliminated by switching to the deep litter method. Dry plant products provide the carbon, a variety of sizes and textures allow for pockets of air (oxygen), and the birds supply the nitrogen. The result is a lovely earthy smell. Given your run is only partially covered, I'd add a lot of wood chips. Very carbon rich and great for air pockets.