How bad do chicken coops stink?

[Anny]

Just like any other pet Chicken only smell bad if you don't clean them up often enough, or if they are crowded. Some people keep cats and you can't smell the cat, other peoples whole house smells like cat... I can't smell my chicken unless I have my face right near the bedding. And I do the deep litter method.

Amonia is bad for chickens, and you should never ever smell a strong amonia smell.

 

[ShaggysGirl]

Imp- My cat box smells worse than the coop, and it's inside.

Mine too and I clean the box twice a day

 

[1-duckling]

Hear, hear! It's only as bad as one lets it be. Many moons ago, I had 4 chickens, 3 turkeys, and 5 ducks living in the one 8x8 house while I built the pens. (I know, you're not suppose to keep 'em together, yadda yadda.) Since I work full time and it never stops raining it took several months to get the ducks out of there and a few more for the turkeys. Still didn't stink. Like everyone is saying: ventilation, DE, dry stall, dry bedding, keep the perch clean, and turn, turn, turn that bedding. You ever smelled fresh turkey or water fowl poo? After that, you'll think chicken poo smells like roses.

 

[big greg barker]

I have 43 chickens in an 8 x 12 and the only time it smells is when it rains for days on end. I have deep litter and stir it up once a week or so. It will only stink if you let it.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Our coop doesn't smell at all. I was really shocked because a bunch of people told me that chickens smell and its going to bother my asthma. The coop is going to be disgusting, blah blah blah.

The worst was when it rained for 2 weeks. The run smelled BAD!!! The coop though was nice and clean!

Laurie

 

[Troyerbuilding]

Mine doesn't smell too bad. 4 hens in a 6x6 looking to add 4 more comets and a roo of some sort.

So, we are supposed to clean these things out though? And what is this "de" you speak of?

I have got a garden. Can I just add the old shavings to it, when I clean it out?

 

[ChooksChick]

I may have missed it, but I didn't see anyone talking about poop boards. You can cut down on work and litter needs immensely if you have wide boards under your roosts- they catch all the poop while they sleep and you can just scrape or sweep it off and compost it. This means almost no poop in the litter, because they hardly ever hang out on the floor if you let them out all day.

Here are some old pics of my coop- the nests are under the board, like a counter top and cabinets. I actually have old counter tops on there now, and they rock!! I have it the same on both sides of the people door. I use a bit of hay and that way it doesn't go right on the poop board, so there's not any bond with the top. I just sweep it off and go!

Edited to fix 'pop' to 'poop!'

 

[wildorchid053]

i use the deep litter method.. and i have a shelf under the roosts that has 99% of the poo.. nothing on the floors or in the nest boxes.. i use d/e and i have not noticed any smell at all. we clean out the roosts about every 8 weeks after turning and adding layers of d/e and shavings..

it has only been cleaned on the roosts 2x's since may

 

[georgialee]

I would say there's potential for the run to smell worse than the coop... at least that's what happened in our case. Ours got stinky and I had DH till it up - NO more smell! I'll probably till it about every month now.

 

[chickenvirgin]

Gumpsgirl......

What is the reason for using olive oil and tea tree oil on the roosts, you do rub it onto to the roost? Thanks